Poor Sleep, Increased Stress and Metabolic Comorbidity in Adolescents and Youth With Type 2 Diabetes.

OBJECTIVES: The impacts of stress and disrupted sleep on type 2 diabetes management and related comorbidities in adolescents and youth remain unknown. In this study, we examine sleep in adolescents and youth living with type 2 diabetes and matched controls and its association with stress, glycemic management, albuminuria and hypertension. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to assess the relationship between sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]) and stress (Perceived Stress Scale-14 [PSS-14] and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale [K6]) with metabolic control within a cohort of male and female adolescents and youth (10 to 23 years old) with type 2 diabetes and weight- and ethnicity-matched controls. RESULTS: One hundred eighty-one adolescents and youth with type 2 diabetes (15.0±2.44 years of age, body mass index z score [BMIz] 1.85±0.60, 62.5% female) and 52 controls (16±2.9 years, BMIz 1.99±0.58, 61.5% female) were included in the investigation. Participants slept for an average of 8.38 hours per night, and 49% of individuals with type 2 diabetes and 46% of controls rated their sleep quality as "poor." No sex differences were seen for sleep scores (p=0.13), but females reported higher stress (p=0.001) and distress (p=0.03). No differences in glycated hemoglobin (p=0.11), BMIz (p=0.28), hypertension (p=0.24) or albuminuria (p=0.79) were seen in individuals reporting good vs poor sleep. Regression analysis showed that poor sleep was associated with higher glycated hemoglobin (p=0.029). CONCLUSIONS: Many adolescents and youth reported poor sleep, which was associated with stress, distress and worse glycemic management. Differences were observed between sexes. The long-term effects of poor sleep and psychological distress warrant further study.

Outdoor time is associated with physical activity, sedentary time, and cardiorespiratory fitness in youth.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether time spent outdoors was associated with increased moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and related health benefits in youth. STUDY DESIGN: We performed a cross-sectional study of 306 youth aged 13.6 ± 1.4 years. The exposure of interest was self-reported time spent outdoors after school, stratified into three categories: none, some, and most/all of the time. The main outcome of interest was accelerometer-derived MVPA (Actical: 1500 to >6500 counts/min). Secondary outcomes included sedentary behavior, cardiorespiratory fitness, overweight status, and blood pressure. RESULTS: Among the 306 youth studied, those who reported spending most/all of their after-school time outdoors (n = 120) participated in more MVPA (61.0 ± 24.3 vs 39.9 ± 19.1 min/day; adjusted P < .001), were more likely to achieve the recommended minimum 60 min/day of MVPA (aOR 2.8; 95% CI, 1.3-6.4), spent less time in sedentary activities (539 ± 97 min/day vs 610 ± 146 min/day; adjusted P < .001), and had higher cardiorespiratory fitness (49 ± 5 vs 45 ± 6 mL/kg/min; adjusted P < .001) than youth who reported no time outdoors (n = 52). No differences in overweight/obesity or blood pressure were observed across the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Time spent outdoors is positively associated with MVPA and cardiorespiratory fitness in youth and negatively associated with sedentary behavior. Experimental trials are needed to determine whether strategies designed to increase time spent outdoors exert a positive influence on physical activity and fitness levels in youth.