Observed relationships between nap practices, executive function, and developmental outcomes in Tunisian childcare centers

Abstract

The objective of this design was to conduct an observational study comparing anthropometric characteristics, cognitive functions, as well as gross and fine motor skills. The study included 118 preschool-aged children (47 boys, 71 girls) enrolled in childcare centers. They were categorized into two groups based on their nap habits. The nap group comprised 59 children (23 boys, 36 girls), age (mean ± standard deviation) ([3.96 ± 0.54] years) who took naps after lunch, while the no-nap group included 59 children (24 boys, 35 girls) age (mean ± standard deviation) ([4.18 ± 0.61] years) who remained awake during this period. The results showed that the napping group had significantly higher scores for body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.000 1), height-for-age z score (HAZ) (p = 0.003), and higher BAZ (BMI-for-age z score) scores (p < 0.000 1), compared to the No-nap group. In terms of cognitive function, the study revealed that the napping group had better working memory performance compared to the No-nap group (p = 0.002), but no significant impact on inhibition was observed. The results also showed that taking a nap may improve functional mobility (p = 0.003) and upper body strength (p = 0.026) especially in boys. Future research could investigate the long-term effects of inadequate nap time on children's health and development and also develop and evaluate interventions to improve nap time habits in preschool children.

Keywords

Early childhood / Naps / Inhibition / Working memory / Gross motor / Fine motor skills

Ethical approval statement

All procedures were approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Medicine of Sousse (CEFMS 121/2022). Written informed parental consent, and participants’ assent were obtained prior to commencement of study. All participants and their parents/legal representatives were fully informed about the protocol and its potential risks and benefits.

Funding

The SUNRISE Coordinating Centre is supported by a NHMRC Investigator Grant awarded to Prof Anthony Okely (APP1176858).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Mohamed-Amine Ltifi: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Validation, Supervision, Software, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Kar Hau Chong: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Software, Project administration, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Ghaith Ben-Bouzaiene: Validation, Resources, Methodology, Investigation, Data curation, Conceptualization. Anthony D. Okely: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Validation, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Mohamed-Souhaiel Chelly: Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Visualization, Supervision, Software, Resources, Project administration, Methodology, Investigation, Funding acquisition, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization.

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Acknowledgments statement

The authors thank the “Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunis, Tunisia” for financial support.

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