Associations of Sedentary Behaviour, Physical Activity, Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition with Risk of Sleep-Related Breathing Disorders in Children with Overweight/Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this study was to examine the associations of sedentary behaviour, physical activity, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and body composition parameters with risk of sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBD) in children with overweight/obesity. One-hundred and nine children (10.0 +/- 1.1 years old, 45 girls) with overweight (n = 27) and obesity (n = 82) were included. Television viewing time was self-reported by using the Spanish adaptation of the "Youth Activity Profile" (YAP) questionnaire. Sedentary time and physical activity were measured with accelerometry. CRF was assessed with the 20-m shuttle-run test and body composition parameters with Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. SRBD were evaluated by using the Spanish version of the Pediatric Sleep Questionnaire. Television viewing time was positively associated with risk of SRBD (r = 0.222, p = 0.021). CRF was negatively correlated with risk of SRBD (r = -0.210, p = 0.030). Body composition parameters were positively associated with risk of SRBD (all p < 0.05), except fat mass index. Stepwise regression analyses showed that body mass index (BMI) explained the largest proportion of the variance in SRBD (r(2) = 0.063, p = 0.01) and television viewing time was the only one added after BMI (r(2) change = 0.048, p = 0.022). This study supports the notion that higher body weight status negatively influences risk of SRBD and adds that unhealthy behaviours could contribute to worsen SRBD, related to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. All the significant association observed in this manuscript were of small magnitude, indicating than other factors in addition to the one hereby studied contribute to explain the variance in SRBD.