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Epidemiology and Population Health

Tune out and turn in: the influence of television viewing and sleep on lipid profiles in children

International Journal of Obesity volume 44, pages 1173–1184 (2020)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Physical activity is beneficial to lipid profiles; however, the association between sedentary behavior and sleep and pediatric dyslipidemia remains unclear. We aimed to investigate whether sedentary behavior or sleep predicted lipid profiles in children over a 2-year period.

Subjects/methods

Six hundered and thirty children from the QUALITY cohort, with at least one obese parent, were assessed prospectively at ages 8–10 and 10–12 years. Measures of sedentary behavior included self-reported TV viewing and computer/video game use. Seven-day accelerometry was used to derive sedentary behavior and sleep duration. Adiposity was assessed using DEXA scans. Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls yielded estimates of carbohydrate and fat intake. Outcomes included fasting total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL-cholesterol. Multivariable models were adjusted for adiposity and diet.

Results

At both Visit 1 (median age 9.6 year) and Visit 2 (median age 11.6 year), children were of normal weight (55%), overweight (22%), or obese (22%). Every additional hour of TV viewing at Visit 1 was associated with a 7.0% triglyceride increase (95% CI: 3.5, 10.6; P < 0.01) and 2.6% HDL decrease (95% CI: −4.2, −0.9; P < 0.01) at Visit 2; findings remained significant after adjusting for adiposity and diet. Every additional hour of sleep at Visit 1 predicted a 4.8% LDL decrease (95% CI: −9.0, −0.5; P = 0.03) at Visit 2, after adjusting for fat intake; this association became nonsignificant once controlling for adiposity.

Conclusions

Longer screen time during childhood appears to deteriorate lipid profiles in early adolescence, even after accounting for other major lifestyle habits. There is preliminary evidence of a deleterious effect of shorter sleep duration, which should be considered in further studies.

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Fig. 1: Path diagram for the total and indirect effect of TV viewing on triglycerides and HDL.

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Code availability

The SAS code used to generate the results can be obtained by contacting the corresponding author.

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Acknowledgements

The QUALITY (QUebec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth) Cohort Collaborative Group is an inter-university research team including (alphabetical): Tracie A. Barnett (McGill University), Vicky Drapeau (Université Laval), Josée Dubois (Université de Montréal), Katherine Gray-Donald (McGill University), Melanie Henderson, PI (Université de Montréal), Marie Lambert, posthumous (Université de Montréal), Émile Lévy (Université de Montréal), Marie-Eve Mathieu (Université de Montréal), Katerina Maximova (University of Alberta), Jennifer J. McGrath (Concordia University), Belinda Nicolau (McGill University), Jennifer O’Loughlin (Université de Montréal), Gilles Paradis (McGill University), Paul Poirier (Université Laval), Catherine M. Sabiston (University of Toronto), Angelo Tremblay (Université Laval), and Michael Zappitelli (University of Toronto).

Funding

The QUALITY cohort is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (M. Henderson #MOP-119512, #OHO-69442, #NMD-94067, #MOP-97853), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada (#PG-040291), and Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec. This work was partly supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (J. McGrath OCO-79897, MOP-89886, MSH-95353). Marie-Ève Mathieu holds a Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec Junior 1 salary award; Mélanie Henderson and Andrea Benedetti hold Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec Junior 2 salary awards; Tracie A. Barnett and Jennifer J. McGrath hold Fonds de Recherche en Santé du Québec Senior salary awards. Katerina Maximova holds a Career Development Award in Prevention Research funded by the Canadian Cancer Society (grant #702936).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Despoina Manousaki, Tracie A. Barnett, Marie-Eve Mathieu, Gabrielle Simoneau, Soren Harnois-Leblanc & Mélanie Henderson

  2. Department of Human Genetics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Despoina Manousaki

  3. Department of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Tracie A. Barnett

  4. Epidemiology and Biostatistics Unit, INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, Laval, QC, Canada

    Tracie A. Barnett

  5. Department of Kinesiology, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Marie-Eve Mathieu

  6. School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Katerina Maximova

  7. Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Gabrielle Simoneau & Andrea Benedetti

  8. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Soren Harnois-Leblanc

  9. Department of Medicine, Respiratory epidemiology and clinical research unit, McGill University Health Centre, McGill University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Andrea Benedetti

  10. PERFORM Centre & Department of Psychology, Concordia University, Montréal, QC, Canada

    Jennifer J. McGrath

  11. Department of Pediatrics, University of Montreal, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Mélanie Henderson

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  1. Despoina Manousaki
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Consortia

QUALITY Cohort Collaborative Group

  • Tracie A. Barnett
  • , Vicky Drapeau
  • , Josée Dubois
  • , Katherine Gray-Donald
  • , Mélanie. Henderson
  • , Marie Lambert
  • , Émile Lévy
  • , Marie-Eve Mathieu
  • , Katerina Maximova
  • , Jennifer J. McGrath
  • , Belinda Nicolau
  • , Jennifer O’Loughlin
  • , Gilles Paradis
  • , Paul Poirier
  • , Catherine M. Sabiston
  • , Angelo Tremblay
  •  & Michael Zappitelli

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mélanie Henderson.

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Members of the QUALITY Cohort Collaborative Group are listed below in the Acknowledgements.

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Manousaki, D., Barnett, T.A., Mathieu, ME. et al. Tune out and turn in: the influence of television viewing and sleep on lipid profiles in children. Int J Obes 44, 1173–1184 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-020-0527-5

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