The Relationship Between Physical Activity and Sleep Among Preschool-Aged Children

Abstract

Poor sleep is common among children in today’s society. It is important to develop ways to promote healthy sleep in children. It could be that physical activity is a healthy sleep practice for children similarly to adults. The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between physical activity and sleep among preschool-aged children. In sub-study 1, children wore a waist accelerometer to objectively measure physical activity. Parents completed a survey to subjectively measure their children’s sleep. In sub-study 2, children wore a wrist accelerometer to objectively measure sleep simultaneously to wearing the waist accelerometer in sub-study 1. Physical activity predicted subjective variables of sleep (sleep onset latency (b=0.69, SE=0.41, p=0.09) and night awakenings (b=-1.75, SE=0.54, p<0.01)). Physical activity also predicted objective variables of sleep (sleep efficiency (F(1,25)=4.37, b=0.36, p<0.05)). This research supports promoting physical activity in young children to potentially help prevent consequences of poor sleep on health.