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Purpose: We aimed to investigate longitudinal associations between sleep duration and cardiorespiratory fitness, in adolescents., Methods: Sleep duration was self-reported and cardiorespiratory fitness was assessed by the 20 m shuttle run test, both at baseline and follow-up (2-year follow-up). Participants were 734 Northern Portuguese adolescents (349 girls), aged 14.6 ± 1.8 years, from the LabMed study., Results: Significant decreases were found between baseline and follow-up for sleep duration, whereas for cardiorespiratory fitness there was an increase. Adolescents with short sleep duration at baseline had lower cardiorespiratory fitness at follow-up, comparing to those meeting the sleep guidelines (odds ratio [OR] = 0.506, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.326-0.785; p = .002 for whole week; OR = 0.597, 95% CI: 0.407-0.875; p = .008 for weekdays). Girls who were short sleepers at baseline had lower odds of having a healthy cardiorespiratory fitness at follow-up, comparing to those meeting the sleep guidelines (OR = 0.311, 95% CI: 0.158-0.613; p < .001 for whole week; OR = 0.469, 95% CI: 0.262-0.838; p = .011 for weekdays). No significant associations between sleep duration and cardiorespiratory fitness were found for boys., Discussion: There was a significant longitudinal association between short sleep duration and lower cardiorespiratory fitness levels, particularly in girls. Future interventions targeting adolescents' sleep duration should acknowledge behavioral differences between genders, as well as different behaviors adopted by boys ang girls, specifically on weekends., (© 2023 Foundation for Professionals in Services to Adolescents.)

Background: The early years of life are critical for motor and cognitive development. A better understanding is needed on the associations between the control and development of motor and cognitive tasks., Aim: This study aimed to examine the association between gross motor skills and cognitive development in toddlers., Study Design: Cross-sectional study., Subjects: This study included 335 toddlers (aged 19.80 ± 4.08 months, 53.7% boys) from 30 childcare services in Australia., Outcome Measures: Children were assessed on gross motor skills (Peabody Developmental Motor Scales 2nd Edition; PDMS-2) and cognitive development (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler development 3rd edition; Bayley-III)., Data Analysis: A one-way ANCOVA was conducted to assess associations between gross motor skills and cognitive development controlling for childcare center, sex, age, body mass index and socioeconomic status., Results: The average scores were 96.41 ± 9.84 for gross motor skills (range gross motor quotient 35-165) and 11.45 ± 3.03 for cognitive development (range standard score 1-19). There was a significant positive association between gross motor skills and cognition, F (2,260)  = 12.245, p < 0.001. Both locomotion and object manipulation were significantly positively associated with cognition, F (2,266)  = 14.607, p < 0.001 and F (2,265)  = 9.039, p < 0.001 respectively., Conclusions: Levels of gross motor skills are positively associated with cognitive development in this sample of Australian toddlers. Results reinforce the need for early commencement of gross motor skill promotion as this might be important for cognitive development in the early years., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Study Objective: This study aimed to examine the direct effects of environmental characteristics of early childhood education and care (ECEC) centres on adiposity, and the indirect effects through daily movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary time and naps)., Methods: 274 children (average age 19.73 ± 4.15 months) from 27 ECEC centres participated in this study. Environmental characteristics of ECEC centres were rated using the Infant/Toddler Environment Rating Scale-revised edition (ITERS-R). Daily movement behaviours were assessed using 24-h accelerometry. Body mass index z-scores were used to indicate adiposity., Results: There were no significant direct effects or indirect effects of environmental characteristics on toddlers' adiposity through daily movement behaviours. However, the environmental characteristics of "personal care routine" (B=0.72, p = 0.041) and "activity" (B = 0.87, p < 0.050) were positively associated with the percentage of time these toddlers spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). "Listening and talking" was also positively associated withnap(s) durations (B = 4.08 p = 0.001)., Conclusion: The relationships between environmental characteristics of ECEC centres and adiposity in toddlers, as well as, the mediating roles of daily movement behaviours still need confirmation by future longitudinal and experimental studies with long follow-up periods. At the same time, a broader spectrum of environmental characteristics of these settings needs to be examined with toddlers' adiposity in future studies; other potential mediators may also need to be taken into considerations., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)