Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children
Background: Current guidelines suggest too little sleep, too little physical activity, and too much sedentary time are associated with poor health outcomes. These behaviours may also influence academic performance in school children. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
BMC
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79964 |
| _version_ | 1848764136468512768 |
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| author | Howie, E.K. Joosten, J. Harris, Courtenay Straker, Leon |
| author_facet | Howie, E.K. Joosten, J. Harris, Courtenay Straker, Leon |
| author_sort | Howie, E.K. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: Current guidelines suggest too little sleep, too little physical activity, and too much sedentary time are associated with poor health outcomes. These behaviours may also influence academic performance in school children. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sleep, physical activity, or sedentary behaviours and academic performance in a school with a well-developed and integrated technology use and well-being program.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of students (n = 934, Grades 5-12) in an Australian school with a bring-your-own device (tablet or laptop computer) policy. Students reported sleep, physical activity, and sedentary (screen and non-screen) behaviours. Academic performance was obtained from school records. Linear regressions were used to test the association between behaviours and academic performance outcomes.
Results: Seventy-four percent of students met sleep guidelines (9 to 11 h for children 5-13 years and 8 to 10 h for 14-17 year olds), 21% met physical activity guidelines (60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day), and 15% met screen time guidelines (no more than 2 h recreational screen time per day); only 2% met all three. There were no associations between meeting sleep guidelines and academic performance; however later weekend bedtimes were associated with poorer academic performance (- 3.4 points on the Average Academic Index, 95%CI: - 5.0, - 1.7, p <.001). There were no associations between meeting physical activity guidelines and academic performance. Meeting screen guidelines was associated with higher Average Academic Index (5.8, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p <.001), Maths 7.9, 95%CI: 4.1, 11.6, p <.001) and English scores (3.8, 95%CI: 1.8, 5.8, p <.001) and higher time in sedentary behaviours was associated with poorer academic performance, including total sedentary behaviours in hrs/day (5.8 points on Average Academic Index, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p <.001. Meeting at least two of the three behaviour guidelines was associated with better academic performance.
Conclusions: Sleep and sedentary behaviours were linked to academic performance. School communities should emphasize comprehensive wellness strategies to address multiple behaviours to maximize student health and academic success. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:14:33Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-79964 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:14:33Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | BMC |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-799642021-01-08T07:54:28Z Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children Howie, E.K. Joosten, J. Harris, Courtenay Straker, Leon Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Sedentary Education Policy Technology 24-HOUR MOVEMENT GUIDELINES SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR COGNITIVE FUNCTION HEALTH INDICATORS CANADIAN CHILDREN ACHIEVEMENT ADOLESCENTS FITNESS YOUTH Background: Current guidelines suggest too little sleep, too little physical activity, and too much sedentary time are associated with poor health outcomes. These behaviours may also influence academic performance in school children. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between sleep, physical activity, or sedentary behaviours and academic performance in a school with a well-developed and integrated technology use and well-being program. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of students (n = 934, Grades 5-12) in an Australian school with a bring-your-own device (tablet or laptop computer) policy. Students reported sleep, physical activity, and sedentary (screen and non-screen) behaviours. Academic performance was obtained from school records. Linear regressions were used to test the association between behaviours and academic performance outcomes. Results: Seventy-four percent of students met sleep guidelines (9 to 11 h for children 5-13 years and 8 to 10 h for 14-17 year olds), 21% met physical activity guidelines (60 min of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity every day), and 15% met screen time guidelines (no more than 2 h recreational screen time per day); only 2% met all three. There were no associations between meeting sleep guidelines and academic performance; however later weekend bedtimes were associated with poorer academic performance (- 3.4 points on the Average Academic Index, 95%CI: - 5.0, - 1.7, p <.001). There were no associations between meeting physical activity guidelines and academic performance. Meeting screen guidelines was associated with higher Average Academic Index (5.8, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p <.001), Maths 7.9, 95%CI: 4.1, 11.6, p <.001) and English scores (3.8, 95%CI: 1.8, 5.8, p <.001) and higher time in sedentary behaviours was associated with poorer academic performance, including total sedentary behaviours in hrs/day (5.8 points on Average Academic Index, 95%CI: 3.6, 8.0, p <.001. Meeting at least two of the three behaviour guidelines was associated with better academic performance. Conclusions: Sleep and sedentary behaviours were linked to academic performance. School communities should emphasize comprehensive wellness strategies to address multiple behaviours to maximize student health and academic success. 2020 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79964 10.1186/s12889-020-08620-w English http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ BMC fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Sedentary Education Policy Technology 24-HOUR MOVEMENT GUIDELINES SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR COGNITIVE FUNCTION HEALTH INDICATORS CANADIAN CHILDREN ACHIEVEMENT ADOLESCENTS FITNESS YOUTH Howie, E.K. Joosten, J. Harris, Courtenay Straker, Leon Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title | Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title_full | Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title_fullStr | Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title_full_unstemmed | Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title_short | Associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in Australian school children |
| title_sort | associations between meeting sleep, physical activity or screen time behaviour guidelines and academic performance in australian school children |
| topic | Science & Technology Life Sciences & Biomedicine Public, Environmental & Occupational Health Sedentary Education Policy Technology 24-HOUR MOVEMENT GUIDELINES SEDENTARY BEHAVIOR COGNITIVE FUNCTION HEALTH INDICATORS CANADIAN CHILDREN ACHIEVEMENT ADOLESCENTS FITNESS YOUTH |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/79964 |