Correlations of Sleep and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Intake with Body measurements in Children: a cross-sectional study

Taiwan’s density of beverage shops was considered very high in the world. The intakes of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) were high in children and adolescents. This study investigated the relationship between sleep and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake with body composition. For this purpose, data was pooled from two waves of Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (NAHSIT) survey conducted in 2012 and in 2013-2016. Children aged 6-12 years were included. Variables included behaviors (nocturnal sleep duration and SSBs consumption) and body measurements (including external indicators (BMI, waist circumference (WC), hip circumference, and upper-arm circumference) and internal indicators (bone mass, muscle mass, fat mass, and bone density)). Multiple regression was employed to examine the associations between behaviors and body measurements. Results showed negative trends were observed between body measurements and sleep duration on weekdays (p-trend = 0.032 to <0.001) . In multiple regression, in the same SSBs consumption group, lower values of the external indicators (p = 0.013 to 0.002) and of the lean mass (p = 0.033 to 0.022) were associated with ≥ 9.5 h sleep in weekdays comparing to <8.5h. Inverse trends were also found in the external indicators (p-trend = 0.007 to 0.001) and lean mass (p-trend =0.014) which decreased with increasing sleep duration on weekdays.. In conclusion, among the children with the same frequency of SSBs consumption, external indicators and lean mass were lower in those with a longer nocturnal sleep duration on weekdays. Sleep and SSBs consumption are both crucial correlates for body measurements in children and should be considered together in public health policy formulation.