Correlates of Objectively Measured Sleep and Physical Activity Among Latinx 3-To-5-Year Old Children

Abstract

Purpose: Latinx children have the highest prevalence of obesity in the US. Physical activity (PA) and sleep are important risk factors for this health disparity, yet limited evidence exists examining objectively measured data among this population. We aim to identify correlates of sleep and PA, as well as the association between sleep and PA, among a sample of Latinx children.

Design and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with thirty Latinx 3-to-5-year old children who wore GT3X+ triaxial accelerometers for five consecutive days, from which we examined sleep and PA constructs. Linear regression and ANOVA were used to examine study constructs.

Results: Sedentary behavior, light PA, and MVPA (moderate-to-vigorous PA) were 51.7, 5.6, and 2.6 min/h respectively. Total sleep duration averaged 9.6 h, sleep efficiency averaged 80.0%, and sleep variability averaged 1.30 h/night. Higher household income was associated with sleep variability (F = 7.240, p = .012) and lower sedentary behavior (F = 5.481, p = .027), and higher sleepiness was associated with lower MVPA (β = -0.503, p = .005) and higher child BMI (β = 0.531, p = .033). MVPA was associated with higher sleep efficiency (β = 0.441, p = .016).

Conclusions: Household income emerged as a correlate of sleep variability and sedentary behavior in our study. In addition, we found that MVPA levels were associated with sleep efficiency.

Practice implications: Our results signal an impetus for further research (particularly with larger, multi-site study designs) examining study constructs among Latinx children.

Keywords: Accelerometer; Health disparities; Latinx; Physical activity; Sleep.