Sleeping and Dietary Factors Associated with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Taiwanese Preschoolers 2023 Su-Fen Huang and Hui-Ying Duan

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the sleeping and dietary factors associated with the prevalence of chronic fatigue syndrome among Taiwanese preschoolers. Five-year-old preschoolers were randomly selected using a stratified multistage random cluster sampling method. The parents of the preschoolers completed a questionnaire containing items related to symptoms of fatigue and sleeping and dietary habits among the preschoolers. A total of 1536 valid questionnaires were returned.

After obtaining the data, the researchers analyzed them using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test. The following results were obtained: (1) chronic fatigue syndrome was typically indicated by yawning during the day, feeling tired, and appearing sleepy; (2) the preschoolers with high sleep quality, adequate sleeping time, and a regular sleep schedule exhibited a lower degree of fatigue; (3) half of the preschoolers who ate three nutritionally balanced meals a day at a regular time exhibited a lower degree of fatigue. Among the three dimensions studied, fatigue was most strongly associated with the “sleepy and inactive/blunted responses/lacking in energy” dimension, followed by the “difficulty concentrating” dimension, and, finally, the “localized pain” dimension.

In this study, the association between sleeping habits and symptoms of fatigue in preschool children was verified. The associations of dietary factors with symptoms of fatigue were not confirmed. It is suggested that parents establish a good sleep schedule for preschool children based on the study findings.

Open access, https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/7/1149

 

"Assessment Scale for Symptoms of Fatigue in Children

To analyze the findings of this study in relation to those of studies conducted in other countries, instead of developing a scale assessing symptoms of fatigue in children in Mandarin, this study adopted the ten-item scale assessing symptoms of fatigue in children developed by Japanese scholars Hattori et al. [24] in 2011."

Ref [24] is Hattori, S.; Tadashi, A.; Ueda, S. The Relationship between Children’s Life Conditions and Fatigue Symptoms. J. Department Soc. Welf. Kansai Univ. Soc. Welf. 2011, 14–2, 155–162. Available online: https://kusw.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action...l&item_id=95&item_no=1&page_id=24&block_id=42 (accessed on 10 May 2020). (In Japanese).

 

It appears the authors are very confused about what CFS is.

 

Could be a language issue. In French the word for fatigue and sleepy is the same. Creates massive confusion.