Introduction:Short sleep in infancy has been identified to be associated with childhood obesity in Western literatures. However, limited longitudinal evidence exists for Taiwanese children. The aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal association between sleep status and body weight changes in healthy children from birth to 2 years. Materials and methods:A convenient sampling technique were used to recruit interested primparous (singleton delivery) mother–newborn pair at a medical center located in North Taiwan. The newborns were eligible for a 2-year follow-up if the following criteria are met: (1) ≥ 37 weeks gestation, (2) birth weight ≥ 2500 g, (3) discharge from newborn nursery (baby-room) or neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) without significant neonatal mobility, and (4) nursery or NICU stay less than 7 days. One hundred and fifty-three eligible newborns were recruited. Eligible newborns were scheduled for collecting sleep and anthropometric data every half-year from the first week after birth to second-year of age. Sleep assessment was performed in the home environment by mother-reported infant sleep diary, the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, and an actiwatch to monitor movement of the child. Data were analyzed based on the study aims. Results:The study results identified that infant sleep patterns are positively associated with body weight status from birth to 2 years-old. Poor sleeping status is not associated with body weight development among the age group of 0–2 years. Conclusion:This study described sleep patterns in a sample of healthy 0 to 2 year-old Taiwanese children. However, sleep problems of this age range did not affect their weight development in this study. More subject involvement in the future will be helpful to confirm the results.
