Association between sleep duration and cardiac structure in youths at risk for metabolic syndrome

The evidence for a link between sleep duration and cardiovascular risk is accumulating in youths, but no study has yet investigated the relationship between sleep duration and change of cardiac structure. In this study, we recruited 559 youths aged 14–28 years from the cohort of Beijing Child and Adolescent Metabolic Syndrome Study. Questionnaire, color Doppler echocardiography, oral glucose tolerance test and blood biomarkers analyses were performed. We found that sleep duration was negatively correlated with body mass index, waist circumstance, and HbA1c (all P 9 h/night group. Findings remained significant after adjustment for the major confounding factors ( P