Perinatal & Pediatric
The association between sleeping time and onset of puberty: An application of the parametric G-method Changwoo Han* Changwoo Han
Globally, the onset of puberty is occurring earlier, and early onset of puberty is associated with children’s mental health and health outcomes in adulthood. Therefore, identifying modifiable risk factors that can influence puberty onset is an important research priority. This study investigated how sleep duration affects the onset of puberty, represented by menarche in girls and first nocturnal emission in boys.
Data were obtained from the Korea Children and Youth Panel Survey 2010, tracking fourth-grade elementary school students for six years. A total of 915 boys and 806 girls were included in the analysis. The parametric g-formula was applied to estimate the probability of experiencing menarche and first nocturnal emission according to sleep duration. The analytical model was adjusted for the child’s age, parental education level, residential area, stress levels, physical activity, height, weight, and household income.
Results showed that shorter sleep duration was associated with earlier onset of menarche and first nocturnal emission. Without any intervention, the cumulative proportions of boys and girls experiencing first nocturnal emission and menarche by the 7th grade were 16% and 58%, respectively. When sleep was restricted to 5 hours, the cumulative proportions increased to 23% (95% CI: 12–39) for nocturnal ejaculation and 70% (95% CI: 59–79) for menarche. In contrast, when sleep was extended to 9 hours, the proportions were 15% (95% CI: 13–18) and 55% (95% CI: 50–60), respectively. Compared to the non-intervention group, the risk of first nocturnal emission in the 5-hour sleep group was 1.45 (95% CI: 0.75–2.37), and the risk of menarche was 1.21 (95% CI: 1.03–1.39). In the 9-hour sleep group, the risk was 0.95 (95% CI: 0.88–1.01) for nocturnal emission and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.92–0.99) for menarche.
This study suggests that the timing of puberty onset may be modifiable based on children’s sleep duration.