Epidemiological study of sleep characteristics in Chinese children 1-23 months of age

Background: Sleep plays a critical role in normal development and the effects of culture upon sleep are especially important in young children. The purpose of the present paper was to determine the sleep times and the prevalence of sleep problems and co-sleeping in children from Shanghai. Methods: A cross-sectional design incorporating parental self-report was used to investigate the sleep-related habits of 1129 children, 1-23 months of age, randomly selected from the five districts of Shanghai, China. Results: The total sleep time (TST) of Chinese young children was less than that reported in Western populations, and the prevalence of sleep problems (65.97%) was higher than that for Western children. The sleep problems of children were significantly related to perinatal factors and certain behavior problems. The rate of bed sharing did not differ between boys and girls but significantly increased with age from 44.07% in 1-month-olds to 71.51% in 23-month-olds. Conclusions: Sleep problems that cross cultures result from a variety of behavioral and health problems. Nevertheless, it is speculated that reduced TST in Chinese children may be related to factors unique to China, such as co-sleeping and child-rearing practices.