ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sports Act. Living
Sec. Physical Activity in the Prevention and Management of Disease
Volume 7 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspor.2025.1640770
Examining the relationship between physical activity and sleep among university students
Provisionally accepted
- 1Doctoral School of Education, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
- 2Sport Office, Budapest University of Economics and Business, Budapest, Hungary
- 3School of Public Health, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- 4Teacher Education Institute, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Miskolc, Miskolc, Hungary
- 5Department of Psychology and Health Management, Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, Győr, Hungary
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Physical activity and adequate sleep are essential for health and wellbeing. University students face distinct challenges affecting their habits. This study investigates sociodemographic impacts on physical activity and sleep patterns, and examines the association between physical activity and sleep quality in Hungarian university students.An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among students (N=1340, mean age 20.00 ± 1.59 years; 60.7% female and 39.3% male) from the Budapest University of Economics and Business. The survey was based on sociodemographic data, the Hunarian version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) questionnaires. In IPAQ-SF, respondents indicated physical activities lasting at least 10 minutes during the last seven days. Responses were categorised by WHO and IPAQ guidelines. Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) was calculated. Statistical analyses were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics 29.0.0.0, with significance set at p<0.05.Most participants (85.8-86.9%) performed below the WHO recommendations for moderate-intensity physical activity. Significant sex differences were noted in physical activity levels (p<0.001 for vigorous intensity; p<0.043 for moderate intensity), with men being more active than women. Regarding sleep quality, 57.1% of participants reported good sleep quality (PSQI 0-5), 36.1% had moderate sleep disturbances (PSQI 6-10), and 6.8% experienced poor to severe sleep disturbances . Women reported significantly poorer sleep quality than men did (p<0.001). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed a significant interaction between energy expenditure on physical activity and sports participation frequency (β = -0.09, p=0.012), indicating that regular sports participation may buffer against potential negative effects of high overall physical activity on sleep quality. The model explained 3.1% of the variance in sleep quality (R² = 0.031, p<0.001). formázott: Betűtípus: +Címsorok (Aptos Display) formázott: Betűtípus: +Címsorok (Aptos Display) formázott: Betűtípus: +Címsorok (Aptos Display) formázott: Normál, SorkiegyenlítésThe relationship between physical activity (MET-minutes/week) and sleep quality was moderated by the frequency of sports participation. Given that poor sleep can negatively impact academic performance, health, and well-being, these findings support the promotion of organized sports within university settings. Interventions targeting both physical activity and sleep hygiene may yield synergistic benefits, particularly for students with sedentary lifestyles.
Keywords: physical activity, Sitting time, sleep quality, university students, Walking, WHO
Received: 04 Jun 2025; Accepted: 04 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Barka, Wang, Jarai and Boros. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Nikoletta Barka, Doctoral School of Education, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary
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