Effects of exercise on sleep in children with overweight/obesity: a randomized clinical trial.

Lucia V Torres-Lopez, Jairo H Migueles, Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez, Marcus Bendtsen, Pontus Henriksson, Jose Mora-Gonzalez, Marie Löf, Jean-Philippe Chaput, Francisco B Ortega

Journal: Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) 2024;32(2):281-290

PMID: 38112235

Free Full Text on Linkoping University Electronic Press View on PubMed

Plain Language Summary

Childhood obesity is highly prevalent worldwide, with implications on poorer sleep health. Exercise interventions have been shown to offer clear and substantial benefits for children's health. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a 20-week exercise program on brain health indicators in children with overweight/obesity. This study was a parallel group randomised controlled study. Participants were randomly allocated to either the wait list control group (n = 52) or exercise program (n = 57). Results showed that a combined aerobic and resistance exercise programme improved sleep fragmentation in children with overweight or obesity but did not affect sleep-disordered breathing. Authors concluded that their findings support public health initiatives that promote exercise training programs in children with overweight/obesity in their potential to improve sleep quality.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to examine the chronic effects of a 20-week exercise training program on device-assessed sleep and sleep-disordered breathing; and to determine whether participating in a session of the exercise program had effects on device-assessed sleep the subsequent night in children with overweight/obesity.

METHODS

A randomized clinical trial was conducted from November 2014 to June 2016. A total of 109 children (age 8-11 years) with overweight/obesity were randomized into an exercise training or control group. The exercise program included aerobic and resistance training 3 to 5 days/week. The control group participants continued their usual lifestyle. Device-assessed sleep outcomes were measured using wrist-worn actigraphy at baseline, in the middle of the exercise program (10th week), and at postintervention for seven consecutive days (24 h/day), and sleep-disordered breathing was measured via the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire.

RESULTS

The exercise training program had a statistically significant effect on wake after sleep onset time (-10.8 min/day, -0.5 SDs, p = 0.040). No other chronic or acute effects (i.e., the subsequent night of attending a session of the exercise training program) were observed on the remaining sleep outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

A 20-week exercise training program reduced wake after sleep onset time in children with overweight/obesity. Future randomized trials that include a sample of children with poor sleep health at baseline are needed to better appreciate the role of exercise in sleep health.

Address: Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.; Department of Biosciences and Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.; Network Biomedical Research Center Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBERobn), Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain.; Department of Health, Medicine and Caring Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.; Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.; Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.

DOI: 10.1002/oby.23945