Physical Activity and Sleep Patterns in Children Attending After-school Programs in Arizona: A Cross-sectional Study

Background Most children in the United States do not meet the recommended daily physical activity (PA) and sleep guidelines. This study described the contribution of after-school programs to children’s daily moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA), the prevalence of daily MVPA (60 minutes), sleep duration (9–12 hours), and sleep efficiency (≥ 85%) guidelines, and differences by gender, age, and school-level income. Methods This cross-sectional study included 72 children (8–12 years, grades 3–6) attending after-school programs at 14 elementary schools in a public school district in Arizona. The children wore ActiGraph GT3X + or GT9X Link accelerometers for at least three weekdays and one weekend day for 10 hours/day to measure PA and sleep. The time spent in MVPA intensity was calculated during after-school programming, and overall MVPA and sleep were averaged across all daily hours. Fisher's exact test was used to examine differences in the prevalence of meeting MVPA and sleep guidelines. Results After-school programs contributed an average of 35 minutes of daily MVPA among participants. Nearly all (99%) of the children met the PA guidelines, 40% met the sleep efficiency guidelines, and none met the sleep duration recommendations. Children under 10 years of age (46%), boys (33%), and those from high-income schools (33%) did not achieve optimum sleep efficiency, although no associations reached statistical significance ( p  > 0.05). Conclusions After-school programs effectively support PA. However, adherence to sleep guidelines remains challenging. Poor sleep might lead to cognitive, emotional, and physical health issues, compromising children's well-being. The incorporation of educational strategies to promote sleep, particularly sleep duration, may be beneficial for children and parents.