Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40660226›Full record

ArticleBMC medicine2025

Trajectories of night light exposure and risk of overweight and obesity: a 15-year longitudinal cohort study of 218,239 Chinese children.

Xijie Wang, Manman Chen, Din Son Tan, Jie Hu, Bin Dong, Yu Jiang, Wannian Liang

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Xijie Wang *Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Manman Chen *School of Population Medicine and Public Health, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China.
Din Son TanVanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China.
Jie HuSchool of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan Campus, Nathan, Brisbane, QLD, 4111, Australia.
Bin DongInstitute of Child and Adolescent Health & School of Public Health, Peking University, Beijing, 100191, China. bindong@bjmu.edu.cn.
Yu JiangSchool of Health Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100730, China. jiangyu@pumc.edu.cn.
Wannian LiangVanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China. liangwn@tsinghua.edu.cn.

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China 82204067
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLight at night (LAN) is found to be associated with elevated overweight and obesity in broad population. However, evidence for the long-term LAN exposure trajectories and its influence to weight gain remained limited, especially to school-aged children who experience critical physical development. We aimed to analyze variations in body weight among children with different LAN exposure profiles, and how varying levels of LAN exposure influenced children's overweight (including obesity) risk overt time.

methodsChildren who had ≥ 5 school health examinations between 2005 and 2020 in Zhongshan were recruited in this population-based longitudinal study. LAN data of each child at each survey year were modeled with group-based trajectory model and named as sharp rise (reference; 5.5%), mild rise, high stable (69.7%), and decline. Differences of overweight incidence between groups were analyzed.

resultsAmong 218,283 children (1,318,542 measurements; 53.1% boys; baseline mean [SE] age, 9.1 [2.5]), 12,050 (5.5%) were categorized in the sharp rise group and 152,030 (69.7%) in the stable high group. In the 189,011 participants categorized as normal or underweight at baseline, the overall incidence of overweight during follow-up was 8.80/1000 person-years (95% CI: 8.69, 8.91). Compared to the sharp rise group, the hazard ratios (HR) for developing overweight were 1.67 (95% CI: 1.28, 2.18) for boys and 1.56 (95% CI: 1.21, 2.01) for girls in stable high group, followed by the mild rise group. The HRs in decline group were non-significant. Overall, the stable high trajectory of LAN exposure accounted for 40.24% (range: 22.14, 54.14) of overweight risk in boys and 36.09% (range: 17.79, 50.31) in girls, while the mild rise group contributed approximately 23% to the overall risk.

conclusionsHigher LAN exposure trajectories, especially at early school age, had persistent effect to overweight and obesity risk in school-aged children. Interventions to reduce LAN exposure during school age may help reduce excessive weight gain in children.

Indexed as

LightOverweightPediatric ObesityChildChinaEast Asian PeopleFemaleHumansIncidenceLongitudinal StudiesMaleRisk FactorsAdolescent healthArtificial light at nightGroup-based trajectory studyLongitudinal studyOverweight and obesity

Identifiers

PMID40660226
PMCPMC12261785

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.