0264 Sleep Duration Among Samoan Children: A Descriptive Study of Behavioral and Sociodemographic Correlates

Abstract Introduction Sleep is important for child health and development and has been associated with obesity risk. Pacific Island nations have amongst the highest obesity prevalence globally, but little is known about child sleep in these settings. The study aimed to: 1) describe nighttime sleep duration and the proportion of children who met sleep recommendations between 2 and 9 years old, and 2) identify behavioral and sociodemographic correlates of sleep duration in Samoa. Methods This secondary analysis used three waves of data collected from the Ola Tuputupua’e (‘Growing Up’) cohort in Samoa between 2015 and 2020. Primary caregivers reported how many hours their child slept at night. Means and standard deviations were calculated for child sleep duration, while frequencies and proportions were calculated for meeting the World Health Organization age-based sleep recommendation (>11 hours for toddlers, >10 hours for preschool-age children, and >9 hours for school-age children. We ran multivariable regression models, stratified by age group to assess associations between child characteristics, sociodemographic characteristics, and zBMI, diet-, and activity-related factors with sleep duration across the waves. Mixed effects models were used to account for the fact that data was repeated within participants and allow for both time varying and time-invariant factors. Results Average nighttime sleep duration was 9.7 (1.1) for toddlers, 9.5 (1.0) for preschoolers, and 9.4 (1.3) for school-age children. Based on nighttime sleep duration, approximately 86% of toddlers did not meet their age-specific sleep recommendation, compared to 51% of preschoolers and 23% of school-age children. Living in a lower income household was associated with more sleep (β: 0.57 [95% CI: 0.29, 0.86]) compared to living in a higher income household, while having a primary caregiver who did not complete high school (β: -0.62 [95% CI: -0.88, -0.36]) was associated with less sleep. Increased total carbohydrate intake (β: -0.19 [95% CI: -0.33, 0.00]) and greater adherence to a neotraditional dietary pattern (β: -0.14 [95% CI: -0.24, -0.05]) were associated with shorter sleep. Conclusion Interventions focusing on early childhood sleep may be needed in Samoa. However, further investigations accounting for daytime sleep are needed and research to inform intervention components. Support (if any)