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Increasing attention is being focused on sleep duration as a potential modifiable risk factor associated with obesity in children and adolescents. We analyzed data from the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey to describe the association of obesity (self-report BMI ≥95th percentile) with self-reported sleep duration on an average school night, among a representative sample of US high school students. Using logistic regression to control for demographic and behavioral confounders, among female students, compared to 7 hours of sleep, both shortened (≤4 hours of sleep; adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval), AOR = 1.50 (1.05–2.15)) and prolonged (≥9 hours of sleep; AOR = 1.54 (1.13–2.10)) sleep durations were associated with increased likelihood of obesity. Among male students, there was no significant association between obesity and sleep duration. Better understanding of factors underlying the association between sleep duration and obesity is needed before recommending alteration of sleep time as a means of addressing the obesity epidemic among adolescents.

Obesity is associated with increased risks for mental disorders. This study examined associations of obesity indicators including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and waist-height ratio with suicidal ideation among U.S. women. We analyzed data from 3,732 nonpregnant women aged ≥20 years who participated in the 2005–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We used anthropometric measures of weight, height, and waist circumference to calculate BMI and waist-height ratio. Suicidal ideation was assessed using the Item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Odds ratios with 95% conference intervals were estimated using logistic regression analyses after controlling for potential confounders. The age-adjusted prevalence of suicidal ideation was 3.0%; the prevalence increased linearly across quartiles of BMI, waist circumference, and waist-height ratio (P for linear trend