Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years
Research has demonstrated various negative effects of poor sleep on overall health in children. Engaging in physical activity during the day is often recommended to help children sleep better. Limited research has examined this recommendation for preschool children, although physical activity is gen...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Sleep |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsle.2024.1329774/full |
| _version_ | 1797276756711833600 |
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| author | Laura Miller Mya Dockrill Penny V. Corkum Penny V. Corkum Sara F. L. Kirk Sara F. L. Kirk Michelle Stone Michelle Stone |
| author_facet | Laura Miller Mya Dockrill Penny V. Corkum Penny V. Corkum Sara F. L. Kirk Sara F. L. Kirk Michelle Stone Michelle Stone |
| author_sort | Laura Miller |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Research has demonstrated various negative effects of poor sleep on overall health in children. Engaging in physical activity during the day is often recommended to help children sleep better. Limited research has examined this recommendation for preschool children, although physical activity is generally supported as a healthy sleep practice. When measuring physical activity and sleep, objective measures (e.g., accelerometers) are recommended as opposed to subjective measures (e.g., parental reports). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between objectively measured sleep (key variables included sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, and sleep duration) and physical activity (operationalized as mean daily total physical activity) among preschool-aged children in Nova Scotia, Canada. Children (n = 29) wore a wrist accelerometer to objectively measure sleep and wore an accelerometer on their waist to measure physical activity for nine consecutive days. Overall, linear regression analyses demonstrate physical activity as a predictor of sleep efficiency but not total sleep time or sleep onset latency among preschool-aged children. Future research should examine the causal relationships between sleep efficiency and physical activity by conducting interventions to increase physical activity and determining the impact on sleep efficiency. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:32:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9415b332d2a440f9a81af1314d5c5585 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2813-2890 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T15:32:52Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Sleep |
| spelling | doaj.art-9415b332d2a440f9a81af1314d5c55852024-03-05T15:33:58ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Sleep2813-28902024-03-01310.3389/frsle.2024.13297741329774Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 yearsLaura Miller0Mya Dockrill1Penny V. Corkum2Penny V. Corkum3Sara F. L. Kirk4Sara F. L. Kirk5Michelle Stone6Michelle Stone7School of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaDepartment of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaHealthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaHealthy Populations Institute, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, CanadaResearch has demonstrated various negative effects of poor sleep on overall health in children. Engaging in physical activity during the day is often recommended to help children sleep better. Limited research has examined this recommendation for preschool children, although physical activity is generally supported as a healthy sleep practice. When measuring physical activity and sleep, objective measures (e.g., accelerometers) are recommended as opposed to subjective measures (e.g., parental reports). The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between objectively measured sleep (key variables included sleep efficiency, sleep onset latency, and sleep duration) and physical activity (operationalized as mean daily total physical activity) among preschool-aged children in Nova Scotia, Canada. Children (n = 29) wore a wrist accelerometer to objectively measure sleep and wore an accelerometer on their waist to measure physical activity for nine consecutive days. Overall, linear regression analyses demonstrate physical activity as a predictor of sleep efficiency but not total sleep time or sleep onset latency among preschool-aged children. Future research should examine the causal relationships between sleep efficiency and physical activity by conducting interventions to increase physical activity and determining the impact on sleep efficiency.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsle.2024.1329774/fullphysical activitysleepobjective measurespreschool-aged childrenaccelerometryactigraphy |
| spellingShingle | Laura Miller Mya Dockrill Penny V. Corkum Penny V. Corkum Sara F. L. Kirk Sara F. L. Kirk Michelle Stone Michelle Stone Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years Frontiers in Sleep physical activity sleep objective measures preschool-aged children accelerometry actigraphy |
| title | Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| title_full | Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| title_fullStr | Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| title_short | Associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| title_sort | associations of objectively measured physical activity and sleep in preschoolers aged 3 to 6 years |
| topic | physical activity sleep objective measures preschool-aged children accelerometry actigraphy |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsle.2024.1329774/full |
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