Sarah James1, Sara McLanahan1, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn2, Colter Mitchell3, Lisa Schneper1, Brandon Wagner4, Daniel A Notterman5. 1. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ. 2. Columbia University, New York, NY. 3. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI. 4. Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX. 5. Princeton University, Princeton, NJ; Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ. Electronic address: dan1@princeton.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To test the association between sleep duration and telomere length in a pediatric population. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed cross-sectional data for 1567 children from the age 9 study wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based birth cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 in large American cities (population >200 000). We measured telomere length using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and children's typical nightly sleep duration was reported by their primary caregivers. Using linear regression, we estimated the association between sleep duration and telomere length both in unadjusted models and adjusting for a number of covariates. RESULTS: We found that children with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres than children with longer sleep durations. Each hour less of nightly sleep duration is associated with having telomeres that are 0.015 log-kilobases per chromosome shorter (P < .05). We found no difference in this association by race, sex, or socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence that children with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres. This finding is consistent with a broader literature indicating that suboptimal sleep duration is a risk for increased physiological stress and impaired health. Future research should address the limitations of our study design by using longitudinal study designs and telomere measurements, measuring sleep duration via polysomnography or actigraphy, and assessing the intermediate biological mechanisms of the link between sleep and telomere dynamics.
OBJECTIVE: To test the association between sleep duration and telomere length in a pediatric population. STUDY DESIGN: We analyzed cross-sectional data for 1567 children from the age 9 study wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a population-based birth cohort of children born between 1998 and 2000 in large American cities (population >200 000). We measured telomere length using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and children's typical nightly sleep duration was reported by their primary caregivers. Using linear regression, we estimated the association between sleep duration and telomere length both in unadjusted models and adjusting for a number of covariates. RESULTS: We found that children with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres than children with longer sleep durations. Each hour less of nightly sleep duration is associated with having telomeres that are 0.015 log-kilobases per chromosome shorter (P < .05). We found no difference in this association by race, sex, or socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: We provide preliminary evidence that children with shorter sleep durations have shorter telomeres. This finding is consistent with a broader literature indicating that suboptimal sleep duration is a risk for increased physiological stress and impaired health. Future research should address the limitations of our study design by using longitudinal study designs and telomere measurements, measuring sleep duration via polysomnography or actigraphy, and assessing the intermediate biological mechanisms of the link between sleep and telomere dynamics.
Authors: Colter Mitchell; John Hobcraft; Sara S McLanahan; Susan Rutherford Siegel; Arthur Berg; Jeanne Brooks-Gunn; Irwin Garfinkel; Daniel Notterman Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2014-04-07 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Marta Jackowska; Mark Hamer; Livia A Carvalho; Jorge D Erusalimsky; Lee Butcher; Andrew Steptoe Journal: PLoS One Date: 2012-10-29 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Laurie Grieshober; Jean Wactawski-Wende; Rachael Hageman Blair; Lina Mu; Jingmin Liu; Jing Nie; Cara L Carty; Lauren Hale; Candyce H Kroenke; Andrea Z LaCroix; Alex P Reiner; Heather M Ochs-Balcom Journal: Am J Epidemiol Date: 2019-09-01 Impact factor: 4.897
Authors: Jing Xian Teo; Sonia Davila; Chengxi Yang; An An Hii; Chee Jian Pua; Jonathan Yap; Swee Yaw Tan; Anders Sahlén; Calvin Woon-Loong Chin; Bin Tean Teh; Steven G Rozen; Stuart Alexander Cook; Khung Keong Yeo; Patrick Tan; Weng Khong Lim Journal: Commun Biol Date: 2019-10-04