Abstract
Cross-sectional analyses of adiposity and sleep duration in younger adults suggest that increased adiposity is associated with shorter sleep. Prospective studies have yielded mixed findings, and the direction of this association in older adults is unclear. We examined the cross-sectional and potential bi-directional, prospective associations between adiposity and sleep duration (covariates included demographics, health behaviours, and health problems) in 5,015 respondents from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), at baseline and follow-up. Following adjustment for covariates, we observed no significant cross-sectional relationship between body mass index (BMI) and sleep duration [(unstandardized) B = −0.28 minutes, (95% Confidence Intervals (CI) = −0.012; 0.002), p = 0.190], or waist circumference (WC) and sleep duration [(unstandardized) B = −0.10 minutes, (95% CI = −0.004; 0.001), p = 0.270]. Prospectively, both baseline BMI [B = −0.42 minutes, (95% CI = −0.013; −0.002), p = 0.013] and WC [B = −0.18 minutes, (95% CI = −0.005; −0.000), p = 0.016] were associated with decreased sleep duration at follow-up, independently of covariates. There was, however, no association between baseline sleep duration and change in BMI or WC (p > 0.05). In older adults, our findings suggested that greater adiposity is associated with decreases in sleep duration over time; however the effect was very small.
Highlights
Obesity is associated with adverse physical[1,2,3] as well as psychological/psychiatric health outcomes[4,5,6,7,8]
Nationally representative study of older adults, findings suggest that cross-sectionally, while both body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference (WC) are inversely associated with sleep duration, these relationships are largely accounted for by variations in health status and health behaviours
Greater BMI and WC at baseline were associated with small decreases in sleep duration over a 4-year period, independently of adjustment for a variety of covariates
Summary
Obesity is associated with adverse physical[1,2,3] as well as psychological/psychiatric health outcomes[4,5,6,7,8]. Cross-sectional data suggest that the association of self-reported sleep measures and body weight can be non-linear[12], such that both under- and overweight are associated with shorter sleep duration The evidence for this association in older adults is, less consistent than in younger adults[13,14,15] with studies that suggest no association[14] or associations that are similar in magnitude to those seen in younger age groups[13,15,16,17]. It is essential to ascertain the direction of this association to allow health professionals to better understand where to target interventions in older age groups, when disease and frailty are most likely to occur
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