Social and Family Factors as Determinants of Sleep Habits in Japanese Elementary School Children: A Cross-Sectional Study from the Super Shokuiku School Project.

Satomi Sawa,Michikazu Sekine,Masaaki Yamada

doi:10.3390/children8020110

Abstract

This study explored the associations of lifestyle, familial, and social factors with sleep habits in 1882 elementary school children, aged 6–13 years, from the Super Shokuiku School Project in January 2016. A survey assessed sex, grade, sleep habits, lifestyle, social background, and parental lifestyle. Bedtime “≥22:00,” wake-up time “≥07:00,” sleep duration “<8 h,” and “daytime sleepiness” were defined as poor sleep habits; correlates were analyzed using logistic regression. Skipping breakfast was consistently significantly associated with poor sleep, especially among children with late wake-up times (adjusted odds ratio 5.45; 95% confidence interval 3.20–9.30). Excessive screen time was associated with late bed and wake-up times. Physical inactivity was significantly associated with daytime sleepiness. Children of mothers with poor lifestyle habits were likely to go to bed late and feel sleepy the next day. Social and family factors were associated with children’s sleep habits. Several behaviors, including skipping breakfast, excessive screen time, and physical inactivity, were associated with poor sleep habits, manifesting as a night-oriented lifestyle. Although a longitudinal study is needed to determine causality, in addition to sleep education for children, sleep education for parents and society at large may be necessary to improve children’s sleep habits.

Highlights

Received: 9 January 2021Children are going to sleep late and sleeping less, paralleling the general population’s increasingly nocturnal lifestyles [1,2]
The most frequent answers to the questions assessing parental health behaviors according to Breslow and Enstrom [29] were “father exhibits a poor number of health behaviors (0–3)” and “mother exhibits a moderate number of health behaviors (4–5).”
This study aims at a holistic assessment of how the sleep habits of elementary school children—as indicated by bedtime, wake-up time, sleep duration, and daytime sleepiness—are associated with lifestyle, familial, and social factors

Summary

Introduction

Children are going to sleep late and sleeping less, paralleling the general population’s increasingly nocturnal lifestyles [1,2]. About 40% of Japanese adults average less than six hours of sleep daily [3]. Children ranked last among the 17 countries surveyed regarding infants’ and toddlers’. Childhood and adolescent late bedtime and the decrease in sleep time are remarkable, resulting in an increase in daytime sleepiness and sleep deprivation [5]. Children’s sleep habits are established early and can later predispose them to lifestylerelated diseases [6,7]. Poor sleep habits contribute to impairing normal brain development [8], school absence [9], and mental or psychosocial problems in elementary school children [10]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion