How do adolescents with short sleep duration spend their extra waking hours? A device-based analysis of physical activity and sedentary behaviour in a Brazilian sample

Objectives: To compare sedentary behaviour and physical activity between short sleepers and adequate sleepers in a sample of Brazilian adolescents.

Material and methods: 688 adolescents wore accelerometers on the non-dominant wrist for seven days. Sleep duration, sedentary behaviour, light (LPA), moderate (MPA), and vigorous physical activity (VPA) were estimated. Participants were classified as short (<8h/night) or adequate sleepers (≥8h/night). The minutes and the percentage of time spent in each waking behaviour was compared between short and adequate sleepers.

Results: Participants were 16.3 years old, 50.4% were female, and 67.7% were short sleepers. Adequate sleepers engaged in less (min/day) sedentary behaviour (-53.46), LPA (-25.44), MPA (-4.27), and VPA (-0.63) compared to short sleepers. However, no differences were observed for the proportion of time (68% in sedentary behaviour, 28% in LPA, 3% in MPA, and <0.4% in VPA).

Conclusion: Patterns of waking behaviours are similar between short and adequate sleepers.