Sleep Time, Physical Activity, and Screen Time among Montana American Indian Youth

Content analysis of factors related to sleep health among American Indian peoples

BACKGROUND

Chronic sleep problems are commonly reported in American Indian (AI) peoples, however there is a lack of qualitative research examining the behavioral, psychological, sociocultural, and economic factors surrounding sleep health among AI peoples. This study aims to remedy that oversight by providing qualitative data on AI peoples sleep health.

OBJECTIVES

To explore the perceived barriers to and facilitators of healthy sleep in AI peoples and identify protective cultural factors associated with sleep for AI peoples.

SETTING

Fifty-nine American Indians aged 30-79 located across 3 geographic sites: Arizona, South Dakota, and Oklahoma.

METHODS

Focus groups were collected in November 2019 and individual interviews were conducted between May and November 2020. Conventional content analysis was used to examine the recurring and overlapping themes related to perceptions of barriers to and facilitators of healthy sleep.

RESULTS

The results yielded 11 barriers to healthy sleep and 12 facilitators of healthy sleep. Facilitators included protective cultural factors such as good dreams, cultural bedtime routine, praying, traditional knowledge, ceremonies and practices, and traditional remedies.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest future sleep health interventions among AI peoples should focus on promoting the cultural factors that were identified as protective factors and improving the sleep environment. Culturally tailoring sleep health interventions is an important step forward in decolonizing research methodologies.

Physical Activity Habits and Sleep Duration According to Gender: A Cross-Sectional Study of Elementary School Children

(1) Background: The main goals of this study were to describe the physical activity (PA) and sleep habits of 8-12-year-old children according to their gender and to evaluate the relationship between PA and sleep habits (i.e., duration and timing). (2) Methods: A total of 236 children (114 boys and 122 girls) completed the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children (PAQ-C) and an ad hoc sleep habits questionnaire. (3) Results: Boys were more physically active than girls (2.62 ± 0.51 vs. 2.46 ± 0.48, p = 0.026) and enacted higher PA levels in school recess (3.82 ± 1.36 vs. 3.56 ± 1.38, p = 0.003), during the afternoon (3.37 ± 1.20 vs. 2.89 ± 1.12, p = 0.003), and during weekends (3.54 ± 1.20 vs. 3.18 ± 0.48, p = 0.009). Per sleep habits, boys had a significantly later bedtime (21:53 ± 2:08 vs. 21:34 ± 2:14, p = 0.009) and a significantly smaller total sleep duration (9.64 ± 0.86 vs. 9.89 ± 0.87 h, p = 0.023) than girls. No significant correlations between PA and sleep habits were found. (4) Conclusions: We found differences in the PA and sleep habits between school-age boys and girls. Institutions and entities should consider designing specific interventions to improve PA and sleep habits according to gender.