0826 Sleep in Parents and Children with Overweight and Obesity

Abstract Introduction Sleep is fundamental for overall health and well-being. Nevertheless, a substantial portion of school-age children, ranging from 30.0% to 43.7%, experience sleep disturbances as reported by their parents. Children who are overweight or obese have increased sleep disturbances than their normal-weight peers. Research on children and parent’s sleep shows that parental sleep and health characteristics may serve as a risk or protective factor for children's sleep. This study aims to investigate the sleep patterns of parents and their school-age children with overweight and obesity. Methods Children (6-9 years) with overweight and obesity wore a wrist-worn actigraph for 7 days. Children’s sleep disturbance was assessed using the parent-report Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). Parental subjective sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), with parental depressive symptoms measured using the Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D). General linear models were used to examine the association between parental and child sleep. Results Overall, 246 children and parents participated in this study, with 208 (84.6%) children experiencing clinically significant sleep disturbances and 123 (50%) parents reporting poor sleep quality. Higher children's sleep disturbance scores significantly predicted poorer parental sleep quality (b = 0.11, p < .01). Poorer parental sleep quality was associated with more severe sleep disturbances in children (b = 0.46, p < .01). This association was unaffected by children’s actigraphic sleep (all p > .05) and remained significant after adjusting for parental depressive symptoms (b = 0.14, p < .01). Conclusion Sleep disturbances are prevalent in both parents and their school-age children who are overweight or obese, with a significant bi-directional association between the two. Healthcare professionals working in school settings should screen for sleep disturbances in parent-child dyads of children with overweight and obesity. Support (if any) This work was supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan, MOST 107-2314-B-002-025-MY3.