Determinants of Young Children's Sleep Duration in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific: The Children's Healthy Living Program

Abstract

Sleep plays an important role in the health of young children and is associated with childhood obesity. This study reports sleep duration and its determinants in young children from five jurisdictions in the U.S. Affiliated Pacific (USAP) from the Children's Healthy Program (CHL).Questions on children's demographic profile, sleep duration, and screen time were all adapted from previous studies and answered by parents/caregivers. The results reported include 3,894 children (2‐8 yo). Mean sleep duration was 9.6 hours (h) (sd=1.7). Twenty‐four percent of the children slept between 11‐13 hours daily, 66% slept between 8 to 10 hours and 10% slept less than 8 hours daily.A linear regression model of sleep duration found the following significant predictors: child's sex, age, race, family income and geographical location. Mean sleep duration was higher by 0.13 h in girls than boys (p=0.03), by 0.58 h for 2‐5 year olds than 6‐8 year olds (p<.001), and by 0.38 h for children from families with an income of more than $35,000 than those with a lower income (p<.001). Compared to Whites, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders, and multiracial children had significantly lower mean sleep duration (p<.05). Children from American Samoa had the highest mean (10.2 h), while children from Guam had the lowest mean (9.2 h). There was a significant negative association between screen time and sleep (p<.001) and a non‐significant negative association between physical activity and sleep. Interventions targeting sleep duration among young children need to consider socio‐demographic and geographic differences.