Sleep, Obesity and the Well-Being of US Adolescents

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管肥胖流行病在其范围内普遍存在，但在来自不同性别、种族/民族和社会经济群体的美国青少年中观察到肥胖患病率的巨大差异。对于这些差异已经提出了几种解释，但研究尚未充分探讨睡眠时间在肥胖患病率差异中的作用。因为（1）睡眠是体重增加的已知风险因素，（2）睡眠习惯因性别，种族/民族和社会经济地位而异，这一领域的研究有望提高我们对肥胖差异的理解。肥胖流行率的差异是一个主要的公共卫生问题，部分原因是肥胖被认为是身体和心理健康欠佳的风险因素。研究一直表明，肥胖的青少年比他们的健康体重同龄人更有可能报告不良的一般健康和身体机能。虽然研究报告的关于肥胖的心理社会影响的结果不太一致，但一些研究也发现肥胖青少年的心理和社会福祉受损。像肥胖一样，睡眠也会影响身体和心理功能。然而，迄今为止的研究还没有探索睡眠时间短如何放大肥胖对青少年健康的不利影响。我们提出的分析的三个主要目标如下：目标1。研究睡眠时间如何影响肥胖的差异，这些差异在按性别、种族/民族和社会经济地位（SES）分类的美国青少年群体中观察到。目标2.开发和测试美国青少年身体和心理健康的理论模型，其中睡眠调节体重的直接影响。目标3。检查目标2中开发的模型是否因性别、种族/民族和社会经济地位而异。为了实现这些目标，我们将利用多波国家青少年健康纵向研究（添加健康）的数据，这是1994-95年美国7-12年级青少年的全国代表性研究。Add Health一直跟踪这群美国人进入青年期，最近一波数据收集发生在2008年。通过对身高和体重的临床测量，对睡眠时间和质量的重复测量，以及各种各样的社会经济，人口统计，心理和健康指标，Add Health非常适合我们的研究议程。我们的分析将采用一些先进的统计技术。例如，为了测试青少年幸福感模型（目标2），我们将估计一系列结构方程模型，这些模型为我们的理论预期提供了实证检验。 公共卫生相关性：肥胖和睡眠时间短的流行率在美国青少年中有所增加。为了促进教育和公共卫生方面的计划和政策的发展，以改善美国年轻人的生活，重要的是要了解（a）睡眠模式如何影响不同性别，种族/民族和社会经济群体之间的肥胖差异，和（B）肥胖和睡眠如何协同影响身体和心理社会健康-通过对多波国家青少年健康纵向研究的数据分析，我们的研究有望在这两个方面取得进展。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Although the obesity epidemic is ubiquitous in its reach, large disparities in obesity prevalence have nevertheless been observed among U.S. adolescents from different gender, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Several explanations for these disparities have been proposed, but research has yet to adequately explore the role of sleep duration in creating disparities in obesity prevalence. Because (1) sleep is a known risk factor for weight gain, and (2) sleep habits vary by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, research in this area promises to improve our understanding of obesity disparities. Disparities in obesity prevalence are a major public health concern, in part because obesity has been implicated as a risk factor for suboptimal physical and psychosocial well-being. Research has consistently shown that obese adolescents are substantially more likely than their healthy weight peers to report poor general health and physical functioning. Although studies have reported less consistent findings with regard to the psychosocial impact of obesity, some studies have also found impaired mental and social well-being among obese adolescents. Like obesity, sleep is also known to influence physical and psychological functioning. However, to date research has yet to explore how short sleep duration could amplify the adverse effects of obesity on adolescent well-being. Three major aims of our proposed analyses follow: Aim 1. Examine how sleep duration influences disparities in obesity that have been observed among groups of U.S. adolescents categorized by gender, race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES). Aim 2. Develop and test a theoretical model of physical and psychosocial well-being among U.S. adolescents, where sleep moderates the direct impact of body mass. Aim 3. Examine whether the model developed in Aim 2 varies by gender, race/ethnicity and SES. To achieve these aims, we will utilize data from multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative study of U.S. adolescents in grades 7-12 in 1994-95. Add Health has followed this cohort of Americans into young adulthood, with the most recent wave of data collection occurring in 2008. With clinical measures of height and weight, repeated measures of sleep duration and quality, and a wide assortment of socioeconomic, demographic, psychological, and health indicators, Add Health is ideally suited for our research agenda. Our analyses will employ a number of advanced statistical techniques. For instance, to test a model of adolescent well-being (Aim 2), we will estimate a series of structural equation models that provide an empirical test of our theoretical expectations. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The prevalence of obesity and short sleep duration has increased among U.S. adolescents. To facilitate the development of programs and policies in education and public health that will improve the lives of young Americans, it is important to understand (a) how sleep patterns influence disparities in obesity across different gender, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups, and (b) how obesity and sleep synergistically affect the physical and psychosocial well-being of adolescents in the U.S. Through the analysis of data from multiple waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, our research promises to make progress on both of these fronts.