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Updated: Jul 8, 2025

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Effects of exercise on sleep in children with overweight/obesity: a randomized clinical trial
Lucia V Torres-Lopez1, Jairo H Migueles1,2, Cristina Cadenas-Sanchez1,3
1Department of Physical Education and Sports, Faculty of Sport Sciences, Sport and Health University Research Institute (iMUDS), University of Granada, Granada, Spain.
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.
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