Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years
<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The number of children with overweight and obesity is gradually increasing worldwide. This is an emergent public health problem as overweight and obesity persist through the next stages of human life, being associated with high risk of morbidity and mortalit...
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2025-05-01
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| author | Maria Mentzelou Aikaterini Louka Theophanis Vorvolakos Maria G. Kapetanou Aspasia Seradri George Antasouras Christos Kontogiorgis Georgia-Eirini Deligiannidou Maria Chrysafi Constantinos Giaginis |
| author_facet | Maria Mentzelou Aikaterini Louka Theophanis Vorvolakos Maria G. Kapetanou Aspasia Seradri George Antasouras Christos Kontogiorgis Georgia-Eirini Deligiannidou Maria Chrysafi Constantinos Giaginis |
| author_sort | Maria Mentzelou |
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| description | <b>Background/Objectives:</b> The number of children with overweight and obesity is gradually increasing worldwide. This is an emergent public health problem as overweight and obesity persist through the next stages of human life, being associated with high risk of morbidity and mortality. In this respect, the purpose of the current cross-sectional survey is to explore whether the overweight/obesity of children aged 6–9 years may be related to the risk of developing perceived stress and poor sleep quality symptoms. <b>Methods:</b> This study recruited 4350 primary school children from diverse Greek rural and urban regions. The mothers of the enrolled children completed relevant questionnaires on children and maternal sociodemographics, anthropometric parameters, perinatal outcomes, breastfeeding practices, and lifestyle factors. The enrolled mothers also completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to evaluate the perceived stress and sleep quality of their matched children, respectively. <b>Results</b>: Our analysis reveals independently significant associations between diverse factors and children’s overweight/obesity such as child’s gender, family economic status, maternal gestational weight gain, childbirth weight, kind of delivery, exclusive breastfeeding, and children physical activity. Childhood overweight and obesity were independently associated with a more than three-fold higher risk of perceived stress and a more than two-fold higher likelihood of poor sleep quality after adjustment for multiple confounding factors. <b>Conclusions:</b> Obesity and overweight are related to enhanced risk of perceived stress and poor sleep quality in children aged 6–9 years. Public policies and dietary counseling interventions should be applied to inform new mothers about the harmful effects of childhood overweight/obesity and to direct them to adopt healthy dietary practices for their children. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2218-1989 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Metabolites |
| spelling | doaj-art-e1368cc688ec4399a63fdce9275d9f6a2025-08-20T03:27:15ZengMDPI AGMetabolites2218-19892025-05-0115634510.3390/metabo15060345Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 YearsMaria Mentzelou0Aikaterini Louka1Theophanis Vorvolakos2Maria G. Kapetanou3Aspasia Seradri4George Antasouras5Christos Kontogiorgis6Georgia-Eirini Deligiannidou7Maria Chrysafi8Constantinos Giaginis9Department of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, GreeceDepartment of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, GreeceDepartment of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceLaboratory of Hygiene and Environmental Protection, Department of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, 68100 Alexandroupolis, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, GreeceDepartment of Food Science and Nutrition, School of the Environment, University of the Aegean, 81400 Myrina, Lemnos, Greece<b>Background/Objectives:</b> The number of children with overweight and obesity is gradually increasing worldwide. This is an emergent public health problem as overweight and obesity persist through the next stages of human life, being associated with high risk of morbidity and mortality. In this respect, the purpose of the current cross-sectional survey is to explore whether the overweight/obesity of children aged 6–9 years may be related to the risk of developing perceived stress and poor sleep quality symptoms. <b>Methods:</b> This study recruited 4350 primary school children from diverse Greek rural and urban regions. The mothers of the enrolled children completed relevant questionnaires on children and maternal sociodemographics, anthropometric parameters, perinatal outcomes, breastfeeding practices, and lifestyle factors. The enrolled mothers also completed the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to evaluate the perceived stress and sleep quality of their matched children, respectively. <b>Results</b>: Our analysis reveals independently significant associations between diverse factors and children’s overweight/obesity such as child’s gender, family economic status, maternal gestational weight gain, childbirth weight, kind of delivery, exclusive breastfeeding, and children physical activity. Childhood overweight and obesity were independently associated with a more than three-fold higher risk of perceived stress and a more than two-fold higher likelihood of poor sleep quality after adjustment for multiple confounding factors. <b>Conclusions:</b> Obesity and overweight are related to enhanced risk of perceived stress and poor sleep quality in children aged 6–9 years. Public policies and dietary counseling interventions should be applied to inform new mothers about the harmful effects of childhood overweight/obesity and to direct them to adopt healthy dietary practices for their children.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/15/6/345childhood obesityperceived stresssleep qualityprimary school childrensociodemographicsperinatal outcomes |
| spellingShingle | Maria Mentzelou Aikaterini Louka Theophanis Vorvolakos Maria G. Kapetanou Aspasia Seradri George Antasouras Christos Kontogiorgis Georgia-Eirini Deligiannidou Maria Chrysafi Constantinos Giaginis Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years Metabolites childhood obesity perceived stress sleep quality primary school children sociodemographics perinatal outcomes |
| title | Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years |
| title_full | Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years |
| title_fullStr | Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years |
| title_short | Childhood Obesity and Overweight Are Associated with Higher Risk of Perceived Stress and Poor Sleep Quality: A Cross-Sectional Study in Children Aged 6–9 Years |
| title_sort | childhood obesity and overweight are associated with higher risk of perceived stress and poor sleep quality a cross sectional study in children aged 6 9 years |
| topic | childhood obesity perceived stress sleep quality primary school children sociodemographics perinatal outcomes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1989/15/6/345 |
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