Relationship between sleep habits, anthropometric characteristics and lifestyle habits in adolescents with intellectual disabilities J. Vanhelst a,b, *, G. Bui-Xuan c , P.S. Fardy d , J. Mikulovic e a Centre d’Investigation Clinique, CIC-9301-Inserm-CH&U, Lille, France b Unite ´ Inserm U995 & Universite ´ Lille Nord de France, Lille, France c ER3S, Universite ´ d’Artois, 59658 Villeneuve d’Ascq, France d Professor Emeritus, Department of Family, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences (FNES), Queens College, New York, United States e ER3S, ULCO, 59240 Dunkerque, France 1. Introduction Overweight and obesity is an international health problem (Wang & Lobstein, 2006). Since 1997, obesity has increased internationally at a rate of 5% per year with more than 1 billion now classified as overweight or obese (Puska, Nishida, & Porter, 2012). The number of obese persons in France reached 7 million in 2012, 15% of the total population (Obepi, 2012). Childhood and adult overweight and obesity in France are a significant public health problem because of the medical and Research in Developmental Disabilities 34 (2013) 2614–2620 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 11 March 2013 Received in revised form 3 May 2013 Accepted 3 May 2013 Available online 7 June 2013 Keywords: Adolescents Physical activity Bedtime Wake up time Obesity A B S T R A C T The aim was to explore the relationship between sleep habits and overweight/obesity, physical activity and sedentary behaviours in French adolescents with intellectual disabilities. This observational study was conducted on 535 French adolescents with intellectual deficiency. Sleep habits were analyzed and related to anthropometric measures, physical activity and sedentary behaviours. The study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. Adolescents completed the questionnaire during an interview with the principle investigator. Sleep timing behaviour was classified into 4 sleep patterns: Early-bed/Early-rise, Early-bed/Late-rise, Late-bed/Late-rise, and Late-bed/ Early-rise. Of 573 eligible participants, 125 were excluded because of missing data on age, weight or height. The number of participants identified in each of the four sleep patterns was as follows: Early-bed/Early-rise, N = 59 (15.4%), Early-bed/Late-rise, N = 164 (43%), Late-bed/Early-rise, N = 56 (15%), Late-bed/Late-rise N = 102 (27%). Adolescents who woke up early were more active than those from the late rise group (p < 0.001). The number of adolescents who are sedentary was higher in late rise vs. early rise subjects (p < 0.001). Subjects in the late-bed group were more likely overweight and obese (p < 0.05). Results suggest that sleep behaviour was associated with overweight/obesity, physical activity and sedentary behaviour in adolescents with intellectual deficiency. Sleep behaviours should be considered in planning health promotion strategies. ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Centre d’Investigation Clinique, CIC-9301-Inserm-CH&U, CHRU de Lille, 59037 Lille Cedex, France. Tel.: +33 3 20 44 60 58; fax: +33 3 20 44 66 87. E-mail addresses: jeremy.vanhelst@chru-lille.fr, jeremy.vanhelst@hotmail.fr (J. Vanhelst). Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Research in Developmental Disabilities 0891-4222/$ – see front matter ß 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.05.011