Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1111/sms.70277

Publication Title

Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports

Volume

36

Issue

4

Pages

e70277

Abstract

Regular physical activity (PA) has been shown to benefit sleep. However, the effects of PA timing and adherence to the WHO's recommended 60-min moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) guideline on sleep are unclear, especially for children with ADHD who often experience sleep problems. This study examined whether timing of MVPA influenced objectively measured sleep, including sleep latency (SL), sleep efficiency (SE), total sleep time (TST), and wake after sleep onset (WASO), among children with ADHD. This cross-sectional study involved 253 children with ADHD (Mage = 8.60 ± 1.31 years, 81% boys). MVPA timing was categorized as more than 8 h before bedtime, 3–8 h before bedtime, and less than 3 h before bedtime. Meeting the MVPA guideline was defined as engaging in at least 60 min of MVPA daily. PA and sleep were recorded using an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer for 7 consecutive days. Among the participants, 174 children (68.8%) met the WHO daily guidelines of 60 min of MVPA. These children had better sleep outcomes than those who did not meet the guideline, with shorter sleep latency, higher sleep efficiency, and less WASO. Regarding PA timing, meeting the MVPA guideline and MVPA time more than 8 h before bedtime were associated with reduced SL, improved SE, and reduced WASO. Conversely, MVPA time less than 3 h before bedtime was associated with decreased SE and increased WASO. Performing MVPA more than 8 h before bedtime and MVPA guideline attainment are crucial for improving sleep outcomes in children with ADHD.

Rights

© 2026 The Authors.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Data Availability

Article states: "The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."

Original Publication Citation

Liang, X., Zhao, M., Su, L., Haegele, J. A., Xu, R. H., Li, J., Tse, A. C.-Y., & Li, S. X. (2026). The effects of physical activity timing and adherence to physical activity guidelines on sleep in children with ADHD. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 36(4), Article e70277. https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.70277

ORCID

0000-0002-8580-4782 (Haegele)

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