Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children

Abstract

Background: Current guidelines suggest too little sleep, too little physical activity, and too much sedentary time are associated with poor health outcomes. These behaviours may also influence academic performance in school children. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sleep, physical activity, or sedentary behaviours and academic performance in a school with a well-developed and integrated technology use and well-being program. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of students (n = 934, Grades 5-12) in an Australian school with a bring-yourown device (tablet or laptop computer) policy. Students reported sleep, physical activity, and sedentary (screen and nonscreen) behaviours. Academic performance was obtained from school records. Linear regressions were used to test the association between behaviours and academic performance outcomes. Results: Seventy-four percent of students met sleep guidelines (9 to 11 h for children 5-13 years and 8 to 10 h for 14-17 year olds), 21% met physical activity guidelines (60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day), and 15% met screen time guidelines (no more than 2 h recreational screen time per day); only 2% met all three. There were no associations between meeting sleep guidelines and academic performance; however later weekend bedtimes were associated with poorer academic performance (− 3.4 points on the Average Academic Index, 95%CI: − 5.0, − 1.7, p < .001). There were no associations between meeting physical activity guidelines and academic performance. Meeting screen guidelines was associated with higher Average Academic Index (5.8, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p < .001), Maths 7.9, 95%CI: 4.1, 11.6, p < .001) and English scores (3.8, 95%CI: 1.8, 5.8, p < .001) and higher time in sedentary behaviours was associated with poorer academic performance, including total sedentary behaviours in hrs/day (5.8 points on Average Academic Index, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p < .001. Meeting at least two of the three behaviour guidelines was associated with better academic performance. Conclusions: Sleep and sedentary behaviours were linked to academic performance. School communities should emphasize comprehensive wellness strategies to address multiple behaviours to maximize student health and academic success.

Adherence to 24-Hour Movement Guidelines among Spanish Adolescents: Differences between Boys and Girls

“…Only 5.4% of adolescents (5.9% boys and 4.8% girls) met the three 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, while 10.2% of adolescents (10.3% of boys and 10.1% of girls) did not meet any of these three recommendations. The adherence to 24-Hour Movement Guidelines found in our study is higher than those found in the studies conducted with European [ 17 , 19 , 27 ] and Asian adolescents [ 14 , 21 , 26 ] and lower than several studies conducted in the United States (5.0%–9.4%) [ 16 , 22 , 23 ]. However, our results are similar to the results found in Canadian adolescents [ 15 , 18 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ].…”

“…However, most existing studies have reported that less than 10% of adolescents met the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. These aforementioned studies have found inconsistent results in the proportion of adolescents who meet the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which have ranged from 0.3% to 2.0% in Asian [ 14 , 21 , 26 ] 3.1% in South Americans [ 25 ], 2.2% to 9.4% in North Americans (ranging from 2.2% to 5.2% in Canadian and from 5.0% to 9.4% in American) [ 4 , 15 , 16 , 18 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], and from 1.7% to 2.2% in European [ 17 , 19 , 27 ]. Most adolescents met sleep duration recommendations [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 ,…”

“…These aforementioned studies have found inconsistent results in the proportion of adolescents who meet the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which have ranged from 0.3% to 2.0% in Asian [ 14 , 21 , 26 ] 3.1% in South Americans [ 25 ], 2.2% to 9.4% in North Americans (ranging from 2.2% to 5.2% in Canadian and from 5.0% to 9.4% in American) [ 4 , 15 , 16 , 18 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 ], and from 1.7% to 2.2% in European [ 17 , 19 , 27 ]. Most adolescents met sleep duration recommendations [ 13 , 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 25 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ], whereas less than half of adolescents met physical activity [ 13 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 ] ...…”

“…Moreover, inconsistent results were also found in the proportion of adolescents who do not meet any of these three 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which have ranged from 5.1% to 38.7% in Asian [ 14 , 21 , 26 ], 32.97% in South Americans [ 25 ], 9.1% to 42.0% in North Americans (ranging from 12.5% to 42.0% in Canadian and from 9.1% in American) [ 15 , 16 , 18 , 20 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 34 ], and from 8.7% to 36.4% in European [ 17 , 19 , 27 ]. These differences in 24-Hour Movement Guidelines across countries may be explained by social (e.g.…”

Intervention Effects of the Health Promotion Programme “Join the Healthy Boat” on Objectively Assessed Sedentary Time in Primary School Children in Germany

“…Research shows that children exceed those screen time recommendations [29][30][31][32][33][34], and studies investigating health outcomes related to screen time indicate that high screen time is associated with increased weight gain and obesity [30,[35][36][37][38][39]. Consequently, reducing children's sedentary time (including screen time) may be important for the prevention of chronic diseases even in adulthood [40].…”