Sleep timing and sleep problems of preschoolers in Aotearoa/New Zealand: relationships with ethnicity and socioeconomic position

• Published in: Sleep medicine 2020-12, Vol.76, p.1-9
• Main Authors: Muller, Diane, Paine, Sarah-Jane, Wu, Lora J., Signal, T. Leigh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bedtime; Disparities; Ethnicity; Sleep problems; Social jetlag; Socioeconomic position
• ISSN: 1389-9457; 1878-5506
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sleep.2020.09.020

To provide descriptive sleep data and explore sleep inequities, we investigated maternal reports of when and how well Māori (Indigenous) and non-Māori preschoolers sleep, and examined relationships between ethnicity (child and maternal), socioeconomic position (SEP) and sleep timing and problems of 3–4 year old children in Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ). This study involved cross-sectional analysis of data from the Moe Kura: Mother and Child, Sleep and Wellbeing in Aotearoa/New Zealand longitudinal study. Log-binomial regression models were used to investigate associations between child and maternal demographic variables and preschooler bedtimes, social jetlag and maternally-reported sleep problems. Child models included child ethnicity, child gender, area- and individual-level deprivation. Maternal models included maternal ethnicity, maternal age, area- and individual-level deprivation. 340 Māori and 570 non-Māori preschoolers and their mothers participated. Māori preschoolers had later average bedtimes and wake times than non-Māori preschoolers. Ethnicity and area-level deprivation were independently associated with later bedtimes. Ethnicity was associated with social jetlag and sleep problems, independent of SEP. Individual-level deprivation was associated with problems falling asleep. Preschoolers of Māori mothers in least deprived areas were more likely to have problems falling asleep than preschoolers of non-Māori mothers in least deprived areas. Research is needed to understand what sleep timing differences mean for preschoolers’ wellbeing in NZ. Fundamental causes of social and economic disadvantage experienced by Indigenous children and mothers and by families who hold low SEP must be addressed, in order to eliminate sleep health inequities in early childhood. •Ethnic inequities exist in preschooler social jetlag and sleep problems in NZ.•Bedtimes and wake times differ between Māori and non-Māori preschoolers.•Socioeconomic deprivation is related to later bedtimes and problems falling asleep.•Socio-political drivers of early sleep health inequities must be addressed.