Sleep profiles and their associations with adiposity and cardiorespiratory fitness among adolescents

AIM: This study aimed to identify sleep profiles in a representative sample of Slovak adolescents and investigate their associations with adiposity indicators and cardiorespiratory fitness. METHODS: Data from the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study conducted in Slovakia were analysed. Survey questions on sleep duration and problems from the entire HBSC sample (n = 8906) were used to identify sleep profiles. Associations with adiposity indicators and cardiorespiratory fitness were investigated in a subsample of 924 adolescents (average age 13.3 ± 1.48; 56.2% boys) who completed the HBSC survey, bioimpedance analysis, and 20-metre shuttle run test. RESULTS: Three sleep profiles were identified-optimal sleepers, optimal sleepers with sporadic sleep problems and poor sleepers. Crude models showed that poor sleepers had significantly higher body fat percentage and fat mass index, along with lower cardiorespiratory fitness, compared to optimal sleepers. After adjustment, only the association between sleep profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness remained significant. CONCLUSION: The observed associations between sleep profiles and cardiorespiratory fitness may help better target future intervention resources towards adolescents with low cardiorespiratory fitness levels.