Meeting Sleep Duration Recommendations is Associated With Lower Abdominal Adipose Tissue in 10‐Year‐Old Boys

ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to examine sex‐stratified associations between meeting recommended sleep duration and adiposity in 10‐year‐old children. Methods Using the GUSTO cohort (51% boys, 10.2 ± 0.2 years), we evaluated the associations of meeting sleep duration recommendations (total daily sleep duration of ≥ 9 h, caregiver‐reported and actigraphy) throughout the week with obesity and BMI z ‐scores ( N = 638), glycoprotein acetyls ( n = 436), fat mass measured by quantitative magnetic resonance ( n = 528), and abdominal adipose tissue volumes measured by magnetic resonance imaging ( N = 377). Multivariable linear and logistic regressions were used, adjusted for ethnicity and maternal education. Results Boys, but not girls, whose caregiver‐reported sleep duration met recommendations throughout the entire week had a lower risk of obesity (BMIz > 2.0) (OR = 0.49, 95% CI 0.27–0.87), BMIz (0.34 ± 0.16 vs. 0.98 ± 0.12) ( p = 0.001), glycoprotein acetyls levels (0.65 ± 0.01 mmol/L vs. 0.70 ± 0.01 mmol/L) ( p < 0.001), total fat mass (8.77 ± 0.69 kg vs. 11.31 ± 0.51 kg) ( p = 0.002), and deep subcutaneous (492 ± 86 mL vs. 729 ± 56 mL) ( p = 0.014), superficial subcutaneous (651 ± 85 mL vs. 888 ± 55 mL) ( p = 0.013), and visceral (415 ± 51 mL vs. 557 ± 33 mL) ( p = 0.013) adipose tissue volumes. Conclusions Interventions to help children attain recommended sleep duration for weekdays and weekends may reduce abdominal and total adiposity, especially in boys.