ECSS Paris 2023: OP-MH27
INTRODUCTION: Physical fitness is a key determinant of children’s health, closely linked to sleep, physical activity (PA), and sedentary behavior (SB) (Ortega et al., 2008). The Structured Days Hypothesis suggests that school vacations disrupt movement behaviors, contributing to increased SB and decreased PA (McCue et al., 2013). School provides a structured environment that supports these behaviors, while vacations may lead to altered sleep, reduced PA and increased SB (Brazendale et al., 2017). The effects of vacations on physical fitness components remain less explored. Additionally, few studies have assessed movement behaviors simultaneously. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a two-week school vacation on physical fitness, sleep, PA, and SB in preschoolers. METHODS: Forty-three children (21 girls, 22 boys, aged 9-11 years) from two French school classes participated in a pre-post study. Fitness tests included the one-mile run (cardiorespiratory fitness), countermovement jump (explosive power), and 30m sprint (speed). Simultaneously, sleep, PA, and SB were continuously monitored for one month using wrist-worn accelerometers (ActiGraph GT3X+), worn 24h/day, to record movement behaviors during both school and vacation periods (P1: before vacation: P2 and P3: during two-weeks vacations and P4: after vacation). Linear mixed models were used to analyze time and gender effects, and correlations tested associations between behavioral shifts and fitness changes. RESULTS: No significant changes were observed in cardiorespiratory fitness, sprint performance, or jump power between pre- and post-vacation assessments. However, movement behaviors shifted considerably. Sleep patterns changed, with delayed bedtimes observed particularly in girls. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) declined sharply, with boys experiencing the greatest decrease (57.1% meeting guidelines in P1 vs. 9.5% in P3). SB increased across both genders, with less than 10% of children maintaining SB levels below 8 hours/day during the two-week school vacation. Despite these behavioral shifts, no associations were found between changes in sleep, PA, or SB and physical fitness. CONCLUSION: A two-week school vacation did not affect physical fitness but led to significant disruptions in movement behaviors, supporting the Structured Days Hypothesis. Boys experienced a greater decline in MVPA, while girls had more pronounced sleep disruptions. These findings highlight the importance of structured routines such as school in maintaining healthy activity behaviors. Future research should explore potential moderators such as socioeconomic factors, seasonal variations, and baseline activity levels to better understand and mitigate vacation-induced inactivity. References Ortega FB et al. (2008). Int J Obes, 32(1), 1-11. Brazendale K et al. (2017). Obes Rev, 18(7), 731-740. McCue MC et al. (2013). Int J Allied Health Sci Pract, 11(1).
Read CV Lou DAMBELECSS Paris 2023: OP-MH27
INTRODUCTION: Sleep is fundamental for athletes’ performance, enabling optimal recovery. Sleep Hygiene Strategies (SHS) offer evidence-informed recommendations to enhance sleep in athletes, but no studies compared different methods for administered them in athletes. This randomized controlled trial investigated how different methods of delivering SHS affect sleep hygiene and sleep parameters in track and field athletes. Specifically, the aim was to compare the effect of ten days of SHS in a standardized, written format versus individual sleep education sessions. METHODS: This three-arm randomized controlled trial was approved by the Ethical Committee of Università degli Studi di Milano (ref. n.: 74/23), and conducted according to the Declaration of Helsinki. Sixty-six athletes were recruited during the 2022/2023 and 2023/2024 competitive periods and randomized into three groups: Control (CON, n=22), Written format SHS (W-SHS, n=22), and individual sleep Education Session SHS (ES-SHS, n=22). Sleep monitoring (total sleep time, sleep efficiency, sleep latency, wake after sleep onset, bedtime, wake-up time, sleep regularity index), including actigraphy and sleep diaries, was conducted at baseline (T0) and during the intervention period (T1) for 10 consecutive days for each monitoring. Participants also completed training diaries (number of trainings, minutes of training, training load) and the Sleep Hygiene Index (SHI) questionnaire. Between T0 and T1, a maximum of 7 days was allowed for data analysis and scheduling individual sleep education sessions for the ES-SHS group. During T1, the W-SHS and ES-SHS groups adopted the same SHS, while the CON group did not receive any SHS intervention. RESULTS: Based on National Sleep Foundation guidelines, at T0, 18 participants were considered short-sleepers (total sleep time < 7h. CON: n=4; W-SHS: n=8; ES-SHS: n=6) and 2 were poor-sleepers (sleep efficiency < 85%. W-SHS: n=1; ES-SHS: n=1). At T1, 16 participants were short-sleepers (CON: n = 7; W-SHS: n = 3; ES-SHS: n = 6), and 3 (W-SHS: n = 2; ES-SHS: n = 1) were poor-sleepers. No statistical differences were found in sleep variables and training parameters. However, significant differences were observed in SHI scores from T0 and T1, with improvements in sleep hygiene in the W-SHS (T0: 28.3±4.5; T1: 22.1±4.2) and ES-SHS (T0: 29.2±5.2; T1: 22.7±4.6) groups. CONCLUSION: While no significant differences were observed in sleep parameters across groups, the administration of SHS significantly improved SHI scores among athletes. These findings highlight the importance of SHS in enhancing sleep hygiene in athletes. Future research should explore long-term impacts and additional methods to optimize SHS delivery.
Read CV Stefano BorghiECSS Paris 2023: OP-MH27
INTRODUCTION: Hypopressive Abdominal Gymnastics (HAG) is a postural technique developed to reinforce abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. It is mainly practised by pregnant and post-partum women and subjects with rectus abdominis diastasis, prolapse, urinary incontinence, pelvic floor dysfunction, and chronic low-back pain. This technique combines expiratory apnoea with abdominal contraction manoeuvres to relax the diaphragm and reduce intra-abdominal pressure while activating the abdominal and pelvic floor muscles (1). Since no studies have evaluated sleep in relation to HAG practice, this study assesses if HAG might exert beneficial effects on sleep quality. METHODS: Twenty-eight women (mean age 43.23 ± 7.03 yrs) with rectus abdominis diastasis were randomised into an intervention (INT, 17 women) and control (CTRL, 11 women) group. INT underwent a 2-month HAG intervention, with one supervised HAG session per week, while CTRL was recommended to practice a 2-month home HAG. Both groups filled in the Mini Sleep Questionnaire (MSQ) to assess sleep subjectively and wore an actigraph to assess sleep objectively. MSQ and actigraphic assessment were performed one week before and one week after the HAG intervention. ANCOVA analysis (adjusted by age) evaluated differences in delta values between INT and CTRL groups. RESULTS: Delta MSQ total score (INT: -2.67 ± 1.19 a.u.; CTRL: -0.94 ± 0.24 a.u.), delta sleep MSQ component (INT: -1.7 ± 0.92 a.u.; CTRL: -0.99 ± 0.74 a.u.), and delta wake MSQ component (INT: -0.97 ± 0.46 a.u.; CTRL: 0.05 ± 0.03 a.u.) showed a slightly greater reduction, indicating a sleep improvement, in INT group compared to the CTRL group. However, the differences were not statistically significant (p = 0.67, p = 0.82, p = 0.63, respectively). Among the actigraphic parameters, the delta percentages of sleep and immobile time were positive in the INT group (sleep time: 0.62 ± 0.35 %; immobile time: 0.43 ± 0.14 %) and negative in the CTRL group (sleep time: -0.38 ± 0.22 %; immobile time: -0.32 ± 0.25 %), indicating a trend of sleep improvement in the INT compared to the CTRL group. Also in this case, differences were not statically significant (p = 0.49, p = 0.23). No differences were visible for the percentage of sleep efficiency (INT: 1.48 ± 1.02 %; CTRL: 2.01 ± 1.49 %) CONCLUSION: This pilot study shows that two-month HAG seems to contribute to some encouraging effects on sleep quality, showing some positive trends, especially on subjective sleep quality. However, no marked and significant results were visible, probably due to the shortness of the intervention protocol. A longer intervention and a bigger sample size could probably lead to more evident results. 1. Hernández Rovira, E, et al., What Is Known from the Existing Literature about Hypopressive Exercise? A Compliant Scoping Review. Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine. 2024.30(10): pp 913–924.
Read CV Lucia CastelliECSS Paris 2023: OP-MH27