24-hour Movement Behaviors, Body Composition And Cognitive Performance In Adolescents

Abstract

PURPOSE: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine associations between 24-hour movement behaviors (sleep, physical activity, and sedentary time), body composition, and executive functions in adolescents with and without obesity. METHODS: Adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 years (n=30, n=14 girls, mean age=14.9 years) wore accelerometers on the hip for 24-hours to measure total night sleep time, minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and percentage of waking wear in sedentary activity. Body composition including lean mass, fat mass and bone mineral density was measured using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Cognitive performance, particularly attention and inhibitory control, was tested using the Go/NoGo task. RESULTS: Mean sleep time was 487.2 (SD 80.0) minutes per night, median minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity were 16 (10.2, 25.3 25th to 75th percentiles) minutes per day, and 68.5% (SD 6.95) of waking time was spent in sedentary activity. There were no differences in sleep or sedentary time in adolescents with and without obesity, however, adolescents with obesity participated in less MVPA compared to those without obesity (median 13.4 vs 23.3 minutes per day respectively, p=.024). In linear regression models with all three behaviours as independent variables adjusted for total body mass, sex, and age, total sleep time (minutes/day), but not sleep efficiency, was positively associated with total body percent fat (0.05, 95%CI: 0.002, 0.11, p=.043) and negatively associated with total lean mass (-37.8 grams, 95%CI: -71.7, -4.0, p=.030). Using negative binomial regression adjusted for age and sex, there were no associations of any of the movement behaviors with accuracy (errors of omission or commission) or reaction times. Body fat percentage (IRR 1.06, 95%CI: 1.01, 1.12), p=.026) and total lean mass (kg) (IRR 0.89, 95%CI, 0.80, 0.97, p=.013) were associated with omission errors of inattention. CONCLUSION: In this sample of adolescents, total sleep time was associated with body fat and lean mass. Body composition was associated with inattention. Novel interventions that integrate sleep strategies to improve health and cognitive performance in adolescents should be explored.