Sleep duration, family meals and Common Mental Disorders in school children

The current thesis describes the influence of sleep duration and frequency of family meal on the development of common mental disorders in school children and adolescents. Data from fifth and sixth graders from 18 public schools in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, participants of the randomized community trial Parents, students, community health agents and teachers for healthy eating (PAAPAS) in 2016 (n = 2,743). Students were assessed at the beginning and end of the same year after primary and secondary interventions aimed at healthy eating. For the present thesis, longitudinal data were used, resulting in two manuscripts. In manuscript I, the effects of sleep duration on common mental disorders were analyzed by linear mixed effects models for repeated measures, by gender. There was an increase in common mental disorders score over time amongst girls who had a short sleep duration, for age, at baseline (p <0.01). Amongst boys, a similar trajectory of the common mental disorders score was observed in relation to the subgroups of short and long sleep duration, but with a significant reduction in those with long sleep duration (p= 0.05). In manuscript II, to evaluate the role of the frequency of family meals on common mental disorders, generalized estimation equations with log-binomial models for repeated measures were used. The relationship between family meals and common mental disorders did not vary over time, but the results showed that eating regularly with the family was a protective factor for common mental disorders and that this protection was maintained over time. Among those who ate both meals (breakfast and dinner) regularly with the family, the protection was relevant and almost twice greater (RR 0.75; 0.69-0.83) than those who had only one meal regularly with the family (RR 0.87; 0.77-0.97), compared to participants who did not eat any meals regularly. This thesis contributes to the understanding of the role of potentially modifiable life habits, such as the sleep duration and family meals, on common mental disorders during childhood and adolescence and can support mental health promotion strategies for these populations.