Associations between sleep duration and physical activity and dietary behaviors in Chinese adolescents: results from the Youth Behavioral Risk Factor Surveys of 2015

•Insufficient sleep may be common among Chinese adolescents.•Sleep duration was associated with dietary behaviors, physical activity, and other health-related behaviors.•Sufficient sleep is important for young people's health behaviors.

ObjectiveTo assess the association between sleep duration and physical activity and dietary behaviors among adolescents in a representative sample.MethodsThe analysis was performed using data from the 2015 Ningbo Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Associations between physical activity and dietary behaviors and sleep duration were examined on weighted data using logistic regression.ResultsOf the 10726 students, roughly 40% reported sleep duration <8 h. Longer sleep duration was associated with higher likelihood of milk intake, fruit consumption, vegetable consumption, water consumption, moderate physical activity, and muscle-strengthening physical activity, and with a lower likelihood of cigarette use, alcohol use, sweets intake, Western fast food intake, and breakfast skipping.ConclusionInsufficient sleep may be common among Chinese adolescents. Sleep duration was associated with dietary behaviors, physical activity, and other health-related behaviors. These findings suggest that sleep duration could be a potential target for many health-risk behaviors in young adolescents.