Humans require an adequate amount of high-quality sleep to maintain their physical and mental health. For example, getting enough quality sleep can help treat many conditions, such as dementia, mental illness, and metabolic, cardiovascular, and metabolic disorders. On the other hand, sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and excessive sleepiness are very common all over the world and can cause major health problems.
About 50 to 70 million adult Americans suffer from a sleep disorder, particularly insomnia. Meanwhile, a meta-analysis of 17 studies found that 15 percent of people in China suffer from insomnia. To better understand such conditions, it is important to research the elements that support high-quality sleep.
According to earlier studies, leading a healthy lifestyle that includes eating well and exercising frequently is beneficial. Previous studies have indicated that a proper lifestyle, including a healthy diet and regular physical activity, is beneficial to good sleep. However, there is a lack of a systematic comprehensive study in this area of research. To this end, a team of researchers from Japan, Canada and Taiwan led by Jawad Kuhasari, Associate Professor of the School of Knowledge Science at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST), who is also an assistant researcher at the faculty, Sports Science at Waseda University has investigated the inter-relationship between sedentary behavior, physical activity and sleep quality in a middle-aged Japanese population sample.
The research group, which also includes Professor Yukari Nagai of JAIST; Professor Akitomo Yasunaga of Bunka Gakuen University; Associate Professor Ai Shibata from the University of Tsukuba; Professor Yung Liao of National Taiwan Normal University; University of Calgary Associate Professor Gavin R. McCormack, and Professor Koichiro Oka and Professor Kaori Ishii of Waseda University based their study on Japanese adults aged 40 to 64 – a critical time window that often marks the onset of various health problems.
Their work has recently been published in Scientific Reports. The researchers used an isotemporal substitution approach, which estimates the effect of replacing one activity type with another for the same amount of time. “We replaced 60 minutes of sedentary behavior or light-intensity physical activity with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in participants’ schedules,” Dr. Koohsari said. An accelerometer monitored the participants’ physical activity levels for seven consecutive days. A questionnaire was used to assess the participants’ sleep and rest quality.
Replacing sedentary behavior with moderate to intense exercise actually improved sleep quality. Interestingly, this association was observed to be gender specific and was found only in females. This is in line with reports that highlight gender-based differences in sleep disorders. However, more studies are needed to understand why these gender-based disparities occur. In sum, this study contributes to the existing pool of studies providing empirical evidence of the importance of physical activity in promoting good quality sleep. Hopefully, these studies will serve as a useful platform for further research on the prevention of sleep disorders. Surely, we now have enough motivation to regularize our workout schedules!