Social isolation in adults can be associated with poor sleep and altered eating behavior. This study aimed to investigate the interactions between the extent of social contact, eating behavior and sleep in infants and preschool children. In an observational study, caregivers of 726 children aged 0-6 years provided information on sleep (i.e., duration, latency, bedtimes and nighttime awakenings), eating behaviors (i.e., meal size, consumption of sweet snacks, salty snacks, fruits and vegetables) and social contact (i.e., quarantine status, household size, social activities) during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020). In infants (0-3 years), the change in meal size and consumption of snacks, fruits, and vegetables did not significantly relate to the extent of social contact. For preschool children (3-6 years), a trend was observed, suggesting that quarantine status was associated with increased meal size.

Changes in sleep duration, sleep latency, bedtimes and nighttime awakenings from before to during the pandemic were not significantly linked to the 3 variables quantifying social contact in both age groups. The study highlights that, contrary to expectations, the extent of social contact has negligible associations with infants’ and preschool children’s sleep and eating behaviors. These findings indicate that other factors beyond social isolation play a larger role in shaping young children’s eating habits and sleep patterns.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

We recognize the support from the Swiss National Science Foundation (PCEFP1-181279 to SK) and the University of Zurich, Medical Faculty (Forschungskredit FK-18-047; Stiftung fuer wissenschaftliche Forschung STWF-17-008 to SK).

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The ethics committee of the Department of Psychology at the University of Fribourg gave ethical approval for this work.

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