Rosie Jackson  – PhD exit seminar

Exploring the effects of sleep loss on children’s eating behaviour and digital screen use.

Supervisors

• Professor Rachael Taylor
• Professor Barbara Galland
• Associate Professor Jill Haszard

Children who sleep less are at increased risk of developing obesity. Although it appears that children may be more susceptible to overeating, the mechanism(s) that may lead to children eating more when they are tired remain unconfirmed. Furthermore, the role that digital screens may play in mediating the relationship between sleep and obesity is yet to be established, which may be partly due to the difficulty of objectively measuring screen use across the day.

To address these gaps in knowledge, Rosie’s PhD presents results from the DREAM study, a randomized cross-over trial in 8–12 year old children. Rosie’s thesis aimed to understand whether getting less sleep impacts problematic eating behaviours, as a potential pathway leading to obesity.

Using data from wearable cameras, Rosie also developed methodology to objectively compare all day digital screen use in children, to further the understanding of how getting less sleep may impact children’s digital screen use behaviour.

All University of Otago and Te Whatu Ora staff and students are welcome to attend.