Physical activity is considered an effective method to improve sleep quality in adolescents and adults. However, there is mixed evidence among children. Our objectives were to investigate this association in children and to examine potential moderating variables. Eight databases were systematically searched, and we included all study designs with a sample of healthy children ages 3-13 years-old. We identified 47 studies for meta-analysis. Overall, we found little association between physical activity and sleep (r = 0.02, 95% confidence interval = −0.03 to 0.07). There was a high amount of heterogeneity in the overall model (I² = 93%). However, none of the examined variables significantly moderated the overall effect, including age, gender, risk of bias, study quality, measurement methodology, study direction, and publication year. Exploratory analyses showed some weak, but statistically significant associations for vigorous physical activity with sleep (r = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.01 to 0.17, I² = 66.3%), specifically sleep duration (r = 0.07, 95% CI = 0.00 to 0.14, I² = 41.1%). High heterogeneity and the lack of experimental research suggest our findings should be interpreted with caution. The current evidence, however, shows little support for an association between physical activity and sleep in children.

体育锻炼被认为是改善青少年和成年人睡眠质量的有效方法。但是，儿童之间的证据不一。我们的目标是调查儿童的这种关联并检查潜在的调节变量。系统地搜索了八个数据库，我们纳入了所有研究设计，并收集了3-13岁健康儿童的样本。我们确定了47项用于荟萃分析的研究。总体而言，我们发现体育锻炼与睡眠之间几乎没有关联（r  = 0.02，95％置信区间= -0.03至0.07）。总体模型中存在大量异质性（I ² = 93％）。但是，没有一个检查变量显着降低总体效果，包括年龄，性别，偏倚风险，研究质量，测量方法，研究方向和出版年份。探索性分析显示，剧烈的体育活动与睡眠之间存在一些微弱但具有统计学意义的关联（r  = 0.09，95％CI = 0.01至0.17，I ²  = 66.3％），特别是睡眠时间（r  = 0.07，95％CI = 0.00至0.14，I ²  = 41.1％）。高度异质性和缺乏实验研究表明我们的发现应谨慎解释。然而，目前的证据表明，很少有人支持儿童的体育锻炼与睡眠之间的联系。