How long do preschoolers in Aotearoa/New Zealand sleep? Associations with ethnicity and socioeconomic position

In Indigenous culture, stories are a common repository of knowledge and facilitate the process of knowing. Māori academics (Indigenous to Aotearoa New Zealand) have developed approaches based on key principles of Māori research, oral traditions and narrative inquiry to express experiences as Māori. To extend this, a Māori approach called Kaupapa Kōrero was developed to gather, present and understand Māori experiences. The application of whakapapa (genealogy) as a relational analytical framework provided a way of identifying personal kōrero (stories) and integrating them within layers of interrelated kōrero about their whānau (family), te ao Māori (Māori culture) and society that influences contemporary experiences of being Māori. Whakapapa also enabled a cross-examination of kōrero and identification of common intersecting factors such as Māori ethnicity, age, parenting status and socioeconomic position. This Māori narrative approach revealed a more complex and nuanced understanding of the interrelatedness and influence of societal expectations, indigeneity, Māori culture and whānau.

Download Full-text

0356 Associations Between Ethnicity, Socioeconomic Deprivation and Preschoolers’ Sleep Health in Aotearoa/New Zealand

SLEEP ◽

10.1093/sleep/zsaa056.353 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. A136-A136

Author(s):

D Muller ◽

S Paine ◽

L J Wu ◽

T L Signal

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Sleep Duration ◽

Socioeconomic Position ◽

Large Problem ◽

Sleep Health ◽

Individual Level ◽

Short Sleep ◽

Aotearoa New Zealand ◽

Falling Asleep ◽

Deprived Areas

Abstract Introduction In Aotearoa/New Zealand (NZ) ethnic and socioeconomic inequities exist in adult sleep health but less is known about relationships between ethnicity, socioeconomic position and sleep in early childhood. Methods Maternally-completed questionnaire data from a pregnancy-birth cohort were analysed cross-sectionally. Log-binomial regression models investigated independent associations between ethnicity, socioeconomic position and sleep of 340 Māori (Indigenous) and 570 non-Māori 3-4 year olds. Independent variables included child ethnicity, gender, area-level deprivation (NZDep quintiles; 5=most deprived) and individual-level deprivation (NZiDep scores 1-5; 5=most deprived). Dependent variables included typical weekday and weekend sleep duration (<10hrs/10-13hrs), difference in week/weekend sleep duration (>1hr/≤1hr) and midsleep time (≥1hr/<1hr), problems falling asleep and problematic sleep patterns (no vs. moderate/large problem). Results Māori preschoolers were more likely to have short sleep (weekdays: PR=2.23, 95% CI 1.31-3.82; weekends: PR=2.04, 95% CI 1.24-3.36), week/weekend sleep duration difference >1hr (PR=2.47, 95% CI 1.59-3.84), week/weekend midsleep difference ≥1hr (PR=2.38, 95% CI 1.30-4.36) and a moderate/large problem falling asleep (PR=1.43, 95% CI 1.00-2.06) than non-Māori preschoolers. Preschoolers living in most deprived areas were more likely to have short sleep on weekdays (NZDep quintile 4: PR=3.91, 95% CI 1.43-10.72; NZDep quintile 5: PR=4.14, 95% CI 1.54-11.12) and week/weekend sleep duration difference >1hr (NZDep quintile 4: PR=2.34, 95% CI 1.23-4.43) than preschoolers in least deprived areas. Children with higher individual-level deprivation scores were more likely to have short sleep on weekends (NZiDep 5: PR=2.38, 95% CI 1.21-4.67) and a moderate/large problem falling asleep (NZiDep 3: PR=1.72, 95% CI 1.10-2.67) compared to children with lowest scores. Conclusion Ethnic and socioeconomic sleep health inequities exist as early as 3 years of age in NZ. Socio-political drivers of social and economic disadvantage experienced by Māori children and children from families who hold low socioeconomic position must be addressed to achieve equitable sleep health early in the lifecourse. Support Funding support was provided by Massey University New Zealand (Massey University Strategic Innovation Fund; Massey University Research Fund; and Massey University Doctoral Scholarship) and the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC 09/233, 08/547).

Download Full-text