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Sleep duration: A possible mediator of the relation between screen time and BMI
Author(s) -
Anzman Stephanie,
Birch Leann
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.21.5.a326-c
Subject(s) - mediation , sleep (system call) , duration (music) , body mass index , screen time , psychology , association (psychology) , audiology , demography , medicine , developmental psychology , obesity , computer science , operating system , art , literature , sociology , political science , law , psychotherapist
An inverse association between sleep duration and BMI has been previously reported for both adults and children. In addition, other research has revealed positive relations between screen time or TV time and BMI. We investigated whether the association between screen time and BMI could be mediated by sleep duration in sample of 165 13‐year‐old non‐Hispanic, White girls. Sleep duration was coded from girls' self reports, which also included information about school day time spent in TV viewing and computer use. A measure of screen time was calculated as the sum of TV time and computer time. BMI was calculated from measured heights and weights. Results provide additional evidence that shorter sleep duration is associated with higher BMI. Sleep duration significantly predicted BMI, β = −.16, t (164) = −2.08, p < .05. In addition, screen time significantly predicted sleep duration, β = −.34, t (164) = −4.64, p < .0001. The method of Baron and Kenny (2006) was used to test for mediation by sleep duration (Figure 1). Results were consistent with the mediation of the relation between screen time and BMI by sleep duration, although our use of cross‐sectional data cannot rule out reverse causality. Supported by NIH HD32973 and M01RR10732 1Sleep Duration Mediation Model ( n = 165) * p < .05, *** p < .0001.