Sleep, Glycemic Control, and Insulin Resistance in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes

Despite advancements in care, most adolescents with T1D have higher BMI and significantly higher HbA1c than recommended and are markedly IR, placing them at increased risk for CVD1,2. Thus, alternative approaches to improve and maintain glycemic control, IR, and BMI for adolescents with T1D are urgently needed. This proposal moves beyond the current insulin and carbohydrate counting-focused lifestyle change paradigm to focus on sleep and circadian misalignment, which will allow for identification of new mechanisms that can be directly translated into future intervention and prevention trials. The goal of the current study is to utilize multiple objective measures of sleep duration, timing (actigraphy), and circadian rhythm (melatonin) in adolescents with type 1 diabetes (T1D; N = 40) and examine relationships with glycemic control, IR, vascular health, and BMI. Further, qualitative methodology will be used to identify barriers and facilitators to healthy sleep in adolescents with T1D.