Bidirectional Associations between Objective Physical Activity and Sleep Patterns in Spanish School Children

Manuel Ávila-García, Pedro Femia-Marzo, Francisco Javier Huertas-Delgado and Pablo Tercedor
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Manuel Ávila-García: Physical Activity for Health Promotion, Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Camino de Alfacar 402, 18011 Granada, Spain
Pedro Femia-Marzo: Unit of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Granada, Avenida de la Investigación 11, 18016 Granada, Spain
Francisco Javier Huertas-Delgado: Physical Activity for Health Promotion, Research Group, La Inmaculada Teacher Training Centre, University of Granada, Calle Joaquín Eguaras 114, 18013 Granada, Spain
Pablo Tercedor: Physical Activity for Health Promotion, Research Group, Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Camino de Alfacar 402, 18011 Granada, Spain

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-10

Abstract: Physical activity (PA) and sleep contribute to better children’s health. Nonetheless, the bidirectional relationship between both of these health-related factors is unclear when using objective measures. The aims of this study were (1) to describe the PA (light PA and moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) and sleep (duration, latency, and efficiency) patterns of children and compare them with recommendations, and (2) to analyze the bidirectional association between PA levels and sleep patterns in 470 Spanish children according to sex (average age of 8.4 (0.4) years, 51.9% boys). A tri-axial accelerometer and sleep logs were used to measure PA (light PA and MVPA) and sleep patterns (duration, latency, and efficiency) in the children for seven consecutive days. Linear mixed models were conducted to analyze the bidirectional association (PA → sleep and sleep → PA) adjusted for the child, the sex, the school, and the day of observation. The results showed that, overall, the children did not meet the sleep duration recommendations per day. Regarding the bidirectional association, increased light PA and MVPA during the day was related to decreased sleep duration but an improvement in sleep efficiency that night. However, sleep duration and sleep efficiency were only related negatively and positively to light PA the following day, respectively. Regarding sex, light PA was associated with decreased sleep duration in both sexes, although the average value was lower in boys. In addition, light PA was also related only to an improvement in sleep efficiency the same night in both sexes, with girls generally having more efficient sleep. More studies in a representative sample of children that use objective measures to corroborate these results are needed.

Keywords: physical activity; sleep duration; sleep latency; sleep efficiency; accelerometer; children (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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