Effect of Green Exercise on sleep quality, Melatonin and immune responses among inactive adolescent girls

Sleep as an important part of daily life affects the health which can have short-term and long-term effects on the health. One of the hormones that greatly affect the quality of sleep is Melatonin (MT). Also, there is a relationship between sleep quality, MT and white blood cells (WBC).It has been reported that sleep deprivation is associated with an increase in the number of circulating leukocytes, hormonal responses and numerous metabolic changes.This study was conducted to investigate the effect of green exercise on sleep quality, MT and (WBC) among inactive adolescent girls. Twenty inactive girls were selected in Bojnourd and then randomly divided into two groups of exercise (N=۱۰) and control (N=۱۰). The exercise group who performed green exercises regularly for ۸ weeks and three sessions per week. The control group did not perform any regular exercise program. Before the intervention, their sleep quality was assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire. Blood samples were also taken before the first session. At the end, all variables reassessed too.In order to test the hypotheses, ANCOVA was used. There is no significant difference between the two groups in demographic characteristics (p>۰.۰۵). In contrast and after intervention the results showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups of exercise and control in MT and the it was high in the exercise group (p=۰.۰۰۰). Also, the level of WBC (p=۰. ۸۷۷) and sleep quality (p= ۰.۷۲۴) in the exercise group were lower than the control.MT affects vital physiological processes such as the human circadian rhythm, the sleep-wake cycle, immunity, and vital functions. Previous evidences show that regular moderate to vigorous exercise produces adaptive responses to the organism. Also, physical exercise may have rapid and delayed effects on human MT secretion. It is also stated that the amount of white blood cells is affected by melatonin. Despite the results of the present study on the effectiveness of green exercises on MT, WBC and sleep quality of inactive adolescent girls; this type of exercise can be suggested for this community.

کلیدواژه ها:

Green exercise ، Sleep quality ، Immune system ، Adolescent