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Sleep patterns in Spanish adolescents: associations with TV watching and leisure-time physical activity

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Abstract

We aimed to describe the sleep patterns in Spanish adolescents and to examine the relationships of sleep duration and morning tiredness with participation in leisure-time physical-sporting activities (LT-PA) and television (TV) watching. Sleep duration, morning tiredness, participation in LT-PA and time spent on watching TV were reported by 2,179 (1,139 females) Spanish adolescents (AVENA study). Data were analyzed by binary logistic regression. One-fifth of the adolescents reported insufficient night sleep (<8 h) on school days. The review of the literature (30 studies) showed that the Spanish adolescents sleep as long as adolescents from central Europe, and longer than those from other Mediterranean countries, South Africa, Asia and North America. Insufficient sleep duration doubled the odds of excessive TV watching (≥3 h/day) in males, regardless of morning tiredness (OR 2.15, 95% CI 1.42–3.27). Morning tiredness reduced the odds of participating in any LT-PA in both males and females (0.49, 0.34–0.70 and 0.49, 0.35–0.69, respectively), and increased the odds of excessive TV watching in females, regardless of sleep duration (2.49, 1.64–3.79). We conclude that non-participation in LT-PA is associated with morning tiredness in male and female adolescents, while excessive TV watching is more associated with short sleep or morning tiredness depending on gender.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge all participating children and adolescents, and their parents and teachers for their collaboration. We also acknowledge all the members involved in field work for their efforts and great enthusiasm. This study was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Health (FIS no. 00/0015). This study was also supported by grants from Panrico S.A., Madaus S.A., and Procter and Gamble S.A.; the Spanish Ministry of Education (EX-2007-1124; EX-2008-0641); the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research; the Swedish Heart–Lung Foundation (20090635); and the Spanish Ministry of Health: Maternal, Child Health and Development Network (number RD08/0072).

Conflict of interest statement

None declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Francisco B. Ortega & Manuel J. Castillo

  2. Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Department of Biosciences and Nutrition at NOVUM, Karolinska Institutet, 14157, Huddinge, Sweden

    Francisco B. Ortega & Jonatan R. Ruiz

  3. Department of Physical Education and Sport, School of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Palma Chillón & Manuel Delgado

  4. Facultad de Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Ulrike Albers

  5. Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, Santander, Spain

    Jesús L. Álvarez-Granda

  6. Immunonutrition Research Group, Department of Metabolism and Nutrition, Instituto del Frío (IF)-Institute of Food Science, Technology and Nutrition (ICTAN), Spanish National Research Council, Madrid, Spain

    Ascensión Marcos

  7. GENUD (Growth, Exercise, Nutrition and Development) Research Group, EU Health Sciences, University of Zaragoza, Saragossa, Spain

    Luis A. Moreno

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  1. Francisco B. Ortega
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  2. Palma Chillón
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  4. Manuel Delgado
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  5. Ulrike Albers
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  7. Ascensión Marcos
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  8. Luis A. Moreno
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  9. Manuel J. Castillo
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francisco B. Ortega.

Additional information

Communicated by Susan Ward.

On behalf of the AVENA study.

Members of the AVENA study group are given in Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

The AVENA Study Group. Coordinator: A Marcos, Madrid. Principal researchers: MJ Castillo, Granada. A Marcos, Madrid. S Zamora, Murcia. M García Fuentes, Santander. M Bueno, Zaragoza. Granada: MJ Castillo, MD Cano, R Sola (Biochemistry), A Gutiérrez, JL Mesa, J Ruiz (Physical fitness), M Delgado, P Tercedor, P Chillón (Physical activity), FB Ortega, M Martín, F Carreño, GV Rodríguez, R Castillo and F Arellano (Collaborators), Dpto. Fisiología, Universidad de Granada, E-18071 Granada. Madrid: A Marcos, M González-Gross, J Wärnberg, S Medina, F Sánchez Muniz, E Nova, A Montero, B de la Rosa, S Gómez, S Samartín, J Romeo, R Álvarez (Coordination, immunology), A Álvarez (Cytometric analysis) L Barrios (Statistical analysis) A Leyva, B Payá (Psychological assessment), L Martínez, E Ramos, R Ortiz and A Urzanqui (Collaborators), Instituto de Nutrición y Bromatología, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), E-28040 Madrid. Murcia: S Zamora, M Garaulet, F Pérez-Llamas, JC Baraza, JF Marín, F Pérez de Heredia, MA Fernández, C González, R García, C Torralba, E Donat, E Morales, MD García, JA Martínez, JJ Hernández, A Asensio, FJ Plaza and MJ López (Diet analysis), Dpto. Fisiología, Universidad de Murcia, E-30100 Murcia. Santander: M García Fuentes, D González-Lamuño, P de Rufino, R Pérez-Prieto, D Fernández and T Amigo (Genetic study), Dpto. Pediatría, Universidad de Cantabria, E- 19003 Santander. Zaragoza: M Bueno, LA Moreno, A Sarriá, J Fleta, G Rodríguez, CM Gil, MI Mesana, JA Casajús, V Blay and MG Blay (Anthropometric assessment), Escuela Universitaria de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, E-50009 Zaragoza.

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Ortega, F.B., Chillón, P., Ruiz, J.R. et al. Sleep patterns in Spanish adolescents: associations with TV watching and leisure-time physical activity. Eur J Appl Physiol 110, 563–573 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-010-1536-1

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