Unveiling the association between 24-hour movement guidelines and academic engagement in adolescents

Background: The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between adherence to different possible combinations of the 24-hour movement guidelines and academic engagement in adolescents. Methods: The cross-sectional study involved 742 students (median = 15.00; interquartile range = 3.00), aged 12 to 17 years (422 girls; 56.9%). Physical activity, screen time, sleep duration, and academic engagement were measured using self-report measurements. A generalized additive mixed model and a generalized linear mixed model were used to examine the association between adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines and academic engagement. Age, sex, socioeconomic status, body mass index, and school were considered as covariates. Results: Students who met all three guidelines showed the highest levels of academic engagement. Conversely, the lowest levels of academic engagement were observed in those who did not meet any of the guidelines. In addition, students’ academic engagement was higher as more 24-hour movement guidelines were met. Conclusion: Our results suggest the importance of jointly promoting 24-hour movement guidelines, as it appears to have greater benefits on adolescent academic outcomes. Impact: Not meeting any of the three 24-hour movement guidelines was associated with lower academic engagement. Meeting all three 24-hour movement guidelines was related to higher academic engagement. Previous research has focused on the association between the three 24-hour movement guidelines and academic performance. However, the relationships of these behaviors on academic engagement have been little studied. The results of this study highlight the importance of promoting these three behaviors in adolescent academic outcomes.