Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sleep Architecture in Adolescents With Severe Obesity: Effects of a 9-Month Lifestyle Modification Program Based on Regular Exercise and a Balanced Diet

Physical exercise and lifestyle modification are recognized as adjunct therapy for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in overweight adults. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effects of long-term physical exercise combined with a balanced diet on sleep architecture, sleep duration, and OSA in adolescents with severe obesity. This interventional study was conducted in a nursing institution. Participants were aged 14.6 ± 1.2 years with obesity (body mass index (BMI) = 40.2 ± 6.5 kg/m ). At admission and at 9 months, participants underwent ambulatory polysomnography and incremental maximal exercise testing to determine cardiorespiratory fitness. Twenty-four subjects completed the study. Analyses were performed on the whole population and on a subgroup of subjects with OSA (OSA-subgroup). OSA, defined as obstructive apnea-hypopnea index (OAHI) ≥ 2 events/h, was diagnosed in 58.3% of the population. OAHI was only associated with fat mass in males ( = .75, < .05). At 9 months postintervention, weight loss (-11.1 kg, < .0001) and improved cardiorespiratory fitness (VO peak: +4.9 mL/min/kg, < .001) were found in the whole population. Sleep duration was increased (+34 minutes, < .05) and sleep architecture was changed with an increase of rapid eye movement sleep (+2.5%, < .05) and a decrease of stage N3 sleep (-3.1%, < .001). Similar results were found in the OSA subgroup. However, OAHI remained unchanged ( = .18). A combination of supervised aerobic exercise and a balanced diet led to weight loss, improved aerobic capacity, and modified sleep architecture without changes in OSA. A commentary on this article appears in this issue on page 907. Registry: ClinicalTrials.gov, Title: Exercise and Venous Compression on Upper Airway Resistance in Obese Teenagers With OSA (OBESOMAC), URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02588469, Identifier: NCT02588469.