School schedule affects sleep, but not physical activity, screen time and diet behaviors

Behavioral changes during adolescence are affected by biological and social aspects. However, environment aspects, which are beyond adolescents' control, also contribute to behavior adoption, and school may have a significant impact in these behaviors. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate how lifestyle behaviors are associated with the school shift attended by high school students.

The sample comprised 635 high school students (51.2% girls, 16.33 ± 1.0 years old) from Southern Brazil. Physical activities of different intensities (light and moderate-to-vigorous), sedentary behaviors, and sleep (duration, efficiency, and timing) were measured using accelerometers. Engagement in sport and non-sport activities, screen time indicators, and diet were self-reported. Linear models were fitted to compare each lifestyle behavior between the two school shifts.

Students attending the afternoon shift slept (β = 01:29 95%CI 01:13; 01:46) and woke up later (β = 01.41 95%CI 01:27; 01:54), and had a longer sleep duration (β = 00:12 95%CI 0:02; 00:21) than those attending the morning shift. However, the sleep efficiency of those in the afternoon shift was lower than their peers in the morning shift (β = -1.89 95%CI -3.01; -0.77).

School schedule was associated with sleep behaviors of adolescents, but not with other lifestyle behaviors.