Associations between physical activity and sleep quality across BMI categories: a cross-sectional population-based...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Epidemiology
• Sleep Science

Background:

• Globally, rising rates of poor sleep quality and physical inactivity present significant public health challenges.
• Understanding the interplay between lifestyle factors like physical activity and sleep is crucial for developing effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between physical inactivity and poor sleep quality.
• To examine this association across different body mass index (BMI) categories.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study utilizing self-reported data from the 'How are you? 2021' survey in the Central Denmark Region (n=30,402).
• Logistic regression analysis, adjusted for sociodemographic factors and covariates, was employed.
• Stratified analyses were performed based on BMI categories (underweight/normal, overweight, obese).

Main Results:

• Physical inactivity was significantly associated with poor sleep quality across all BMI categories in crude analysis (OR 1.80).
• In adjusted analyses, physically inactive individuals had higher odds of poor sleep quality (OR 1.24).
• Stratified analyses showed the association persisted across BMI categories, with odds ratios ranging from 1.16 to 1.27.

Conclusions:

• A clear association exists between physical inactivity and poor sleep quality, regardless of BMI.
• While the strength of the association varied slightly across BMI categories, the overall link remained consistent.
• The findings highlight the need for integrated public health strategies addressing both physical inactivity and sleep quality to improve population health.