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Nutritional status, growth and sleep habits among Senegalese adolescent girls

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 292–301 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective: To study the relation between sleep habits, nutritional status, growth and maturation in a group of African adolescent girls. The main hypothesis to be tested was that sleep length could be an effective way to spare energy, and thus malnourished girls sleep longer than normal girls.

Design: Three repeated yearly surveys (1997–1999) on a subsample of girls drawn from a larger study cohort on growth at adolescence.

Setting: The Niakhar district in the central part of Senegal.

Subjects: In total, 40 girls were initially drawn. Missing girls were replaced at each round by girls having the same characteristics and belonging to the same cohort.

Interventions: At each round, data on pubertal development (breast stages and occurrence of menarche), growth and nutritional status were collected. Adolescents wore an accelerometer for three or four consecutive nights and days at each round.

Results: At the beginning of the survey, girls were 13.3±0.5 y old. They were under international reference values in weight and height. Their mean sleep duration was 8.5±0.9 h. Their puberty status did not influence their sleep habits; however, they slept more in March than in June, which was related to the seasonal change in daylight. There was a significant relation between body mass index and sleep habits: thinner girls slept a longer time and more quietly than the more corpulent girls.

Conclusions: The nutritional status of these girls influenced their sleep habits: this may have been either a direct causal relation or a consequence of a protective attitude on the part of the mothers towards the frailer girls.

Sponsorship: The R024 ‘Epidémiologie et Prévention’ of the IRD (France) and the Nestlé Foundation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Epidemiology and Prevention, Research Unit R024, Centre IRD (Institut de recherche pour le Développement) de Montpellier, Montpellier, cedex, France

    E Bénéfice & D Garnier

  2. Epidemiology and Prevention, Research Unit R024, Centre IRD de Dakar, Senegal

    G Ndiaye

  3. Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal

    G Ndiaye

Authors
  1. E Bénéfice
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  2. D Garnier
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  3. G Ndiaye
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Contributions

Guarantor: E Bénéfice.

Contributors: EB was responsible for all stages of the study (including design, and pilot surveys to validate the methods); DG was in charge of the second round and GN for the last round. All contributors participated in the analysis and writing up of the results.

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Correspondence to E Bénéfice.

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Bénéfice, E., Garnier, D. & Ndiaye, G. Nutritional status, growth and sleep habits among Senegalese adolescent girls . Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 292–301 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601781

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