Body mass index mediates the association between children's dietary inflammatory index and obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome in children: a cross-sectional study

Description

Yi Wen and colleagues published a 2026 cross-sectional study of whether body weight explains the link between inflammatory diets and sleep apnea severity in children. They studied 297 children with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome, a disorder where the airway narrows during sleep. Diet came from three days of food records scored with a children's dietary inflammatory index. Overnight sleep studies measured breathing disruptions per hour.

Children in the most pro-inflammatory diet group averaged about two more breathing disruptions per hour than those in the least inflammatory group, a statistically significant gap. Once body mass index entered the model, the diet link weakened and lost significance, while weight itself stayed strongly tied to severity. Mediation analysis attributed about a fifth of the diet link to body mass. The authors caution that a one-time snapshot cannot prove cause. They recommend combining diet and weight strategies in children's sleep apnea care.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13279400