Sleep patterns are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in nine-year-old Swedish children Nilsson, Ellinor Delisle Nyström, Christine Migueles Hidalgo, Jairo Baurén, Hanna Marín Jiménez, Nuria Henström, Maria Torres López, Lucía Victoria Löf, Marie Bedtime Cardiometabolic health School-aged children Aim Sleep duration and bedtime may play a role in children's cardiometabolic health, but research is lacking. This study examined associations between sleep patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors in Swedish nine-year-olds. Methods This cross-sectional study used data from three studies, where identical outcome measures were conducted in 411 nine-year-olds, 51% boys, between 2016 and 2020. Sleep was assessed with wrist-worn accelerometers and sleep journals. Children were grouped based on meeting the sleep guidelines of 9–11 h and going to bed early or late based on the median bedtime. Analysis of covariance was used to examine associations between sleep patterns and cardiometabolic risk factors. Results Meeting sleep guidelines and going to bed early were associated with lower metabolic syndrome score (−0.15 vs. 0.42, p = 0.029), insulin resistance (0.30 vs. 0.60, p = 0.025) and insulin levels (6.80 vs. 8.87 mIU/L, p = 0.034), compared with their peers who did not meet the guidelines and went to bed later. When adjusting for total sleep time, analyses still showed associations with the metabolic syndrome score (−0.19 vs. 0.50, p = 0.011). Conclusion The findings indicate that good sleep patterns could help mediate positive overall cardiometabolic health in children. 2024-05-14T12:04:33Z 2024-05-14T12:04:33Z 2024-04-27 journal article How to cite this article: Nilsson E, Delisle Nyström C, Migueles JH, Baurén H, Marin-Jimenez N, Henström M, et al. Sleep patterns are associated with cardiometabolic risk factors in nine-year- old Swedish children. Acta Paediatr. 2024;00:1–9. [https://doi.org/10.1111/apa.17254] https://hdl.handle.net/10481/91771 10.1111/apa.17254 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Wiley