Skip to main content
Log in

The relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality and dietary intake in adults

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sleep and Biological Rhythms Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

To determine the relationship of specific macro- and micro-nutrients and food groups with sleep duration and sleep quality in adults. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on 2446 adults aged between 20 and 64 years in Turkey. The participants’ socio-demographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and dietary intake (24-h recall) were taken. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to assess sleep quality. In the study, 48.9% of the participants were male and 51.1% were female, with an average age of 38.7 ± 12.70 years. Total protein, meat, and processed meat product consumption rates of long sleepers were found to be lower than those of normal sleepers (p < 0.05). Saturated fat intake of short sleepers was higher than that of long sleepers (p < 0.018). Participants with good sleep quality were found to consume higher carbohydrate, fiber, beta-carotene, vitamin E, thiamine, vitamin B6, total folate, vitamin C, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and iron compared to those with poor sleep quality (p < 0.05). When examined in terms of food groups, fruit consumption was higher in individuals with good sleep quality compared to those with poor sleep quality (p < 0.05). In this study, some macro- and micro-nutrients of the diet were found correlated with sleep duration and quality. Mechanisms mediating the relationship between sleep duration and dietary intake are multi-factorial. Because of the differences in appetite-related hormones, such as leptin and ghrelin, and hedonic factors, future studies will benefit from assessing sleep duration/quality and dietary intake.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cappuccio FP, Miller MA. Sleep and cardio-metabolic disease. Curr Cardiol Rep. 2017;19(11):110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ricardo AC, et al. Association of sleep duration, symptoms, and disorders with mortality in adults with chronic kidney disease. Kidney Int Rep. 2017;2(5):866–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Khandelwal D, et al. Sleep disorders in type 2 diabetes. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2017;21(5):758–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Chamorro R, et al. Night time sleep macrostructure is altered in otherwise healthy 10-year-old overweight children. Int J Obes (Lond). 2014;38(8):1120–5.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Johnsen MT, Wynn R, Bratlid T. Optimal sleep duration in the subarctic with respect to obesity risk is 8–9 h. PLoS One. 2013;8(2):e56756.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Weiss A, et al. The association of sleep duration with adolescents’ fat and carbohydrate consumption. Sleep. 2010;33(9):1201–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Marshall NS, Glozier N, Grunstein RR. Is sleep duration related to obesity? A critical review of the epidemiological evidence. Sleep Med Rev. 2008;12(4):289–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Katagiri R, et al. Low intake of vegetables, high intake of confectionary, and unhealthy eating habits are associated with poor sleep quality among middle-aged female Japanese workers. J Occup Health. 2014;56(5):359–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Kleiser C, et al. Are sleep duration, midpoint of sleep and sleep quality associated with dietary intake among Bavarian adults? Eur J Clin Nutr. 2017;71(5):631–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Buysse DJ, et al. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index: a new instrument for psychiatric practice and research. Psychiatry Res. 1989;28(2):193–213.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Ağargün MY, Kara H, Anlar Ö. Pittsburg Uyku Kalitesi Indeksi’nin geçerliliği ve güvenilirliği. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi. 1996;7:107–15.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Kant AK, Graubard BI. Association of self-reported sleep duration with eating behaviors of American adults: NHANES 2005–2010. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014;100(3):938–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Grandner MA, et al. Dietary nutrients associated with short and long sleep duration. Data from a nationally representative sample. Appetite. 2013;64:71–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Beslenme Bilgi Sistemi Paket Programı (BEBİS). Ebispro for Windows, Stutgart, Germany; Turkish version BEBİS; Data Bases: Bundeslebenmittelschlüssell, 11.3 and other sorces. Germany.

  15. Consultation WE. Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio. Report of a WHO Expert Consultation. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2008. p. 8–11.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Who EC. Appropriate body-mass index for Asian populations and its implications for policy and intervention strategies. Lancet (Lond Engl). 2004;363(9403):157.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. WHO/FAO (2003) Diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Report of Joint WHO/FAO Expert Consultation. Geneva, World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization (WHO/FAO).

  18. Chaput JP, et al. Short sleep duration is associated with reduced leptin levels and increased adiposity: results from the Quebec family study. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2007;15(1):253–61.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Kim S, DeRoo LA, Sandler DP. Eating patterns and nutritional characteristics associated with sleep duration. Public Health Nutr. 2011;14(5):889–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Marshall NS, Glozier N, Grunstein RR. Is sleep duration related to obesity? A critical review of the epidemiological evidence. Sleep Med Rev. 2008;12(4):289–98.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Lauderdale DS, et al. Objectively measured sleep characteristics among early-middle-aged adults: the CARDIA study. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164(1):5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Calamaro CJ, et al. Shortened sleep duration does not predict obesity in adolescents. J Sleep Res. 2010;19(4):559–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Patel SR, et al. Association between reduced sleep and weight gain in women. Am J Epidemiol. 2006;164(10):947–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Hairston KG, et al. Sleep duration and five-year abdominal fat accumulation in a minority cohort: the IRAS family study. Sleep. 2010;33(3):289–95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Yan Z, et al. Association between sleep quality and body mass index among Chinese nonagenarians/centenarians. Age. 2012;34(3):527–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Liu R-Q, et al. Sex-specific difference in the association between poor sleep quality and abdominal obesity in rural Chinese: a large population-based study. J Clin Sleep Med. 2017;13(4):565.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Frank S, et al. Diet and sleep physiology: public health and clinical implications. Front Neurol. 2017;8:393.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Peuhkuri K, Sihvola N, Korpela R. Diet promotes sleep duration and quality. Nutr Res. 2012;32(5):309–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Shi Z, et al. Dietary fat and sleep duration in Chinese men and women. Int J Obes. 2008;32(12):1835–40.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Doo H, Chun H, Doo M. Associations of daily sleep duration and dietary macronutrient consumption with obesity and dyslipidemia in Koreans: a cross-sectional study. Medicine. 2016;95(45):e5360.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Liu X, et al. The associations between carbohydrate and protein intakes with habitual sleep duration among adults living in urban and rural areas. Clin Nutr. 2018;37:1631–7.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Tu X, et al. Sleep duration and its correlates in middle-aged and elderly Chinese women: the Shanghai Women’s Health Study. Sleep Med. 2012;13(9):1138–45.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Santana AA, et al. Sleep duration in elderly obese patients correlated negatively with intake fatty. Lipids Health Dis. 2012;11:99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Komada Y, et al. Relationship between self-reported dietary nutrient intake and self-reported sleep duration among japanese adults. Nutrients. 2017;9(2):134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Dashti HS, et al. Habitual sleep duration is associated with BMI and macronutrient intake and may be modified by CLOCK genetic variants. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015;101(1):135–43.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  36. Afaghi A, O’Connor H, Chow CM. High-glycemic-index carbohydrate meals shorten sleep onset. Am J Clin Nutr. 2007;85(2):426–30.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  37. Galli G, et al. Inverse relationship of food and alcohol intake to sleep measures in obesity. Nutr Diabetes. 2013;3(1):e58.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Rontoyanni VG, Baic S, Cooper AR. Association between nocturnal sleep duration, body fatness, and dietary intake in Greek women. Nutrition. 2007;23(11):773–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Martinez SM, et al. Short sleep duration is associated with eating more carbohydrates and less dietary fat in Mexican American children. Sleep. 2017;40(2):057.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Dhingra D, et al. Dietary fibre in foods: a review. J Food Sci Technol. 2012;49(3):255–66.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  41. Slavin JL, Lloyd B. Health benefits of fruits and vegetables. Adv Nutr. 2012;3(4):506–16.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Peuhkuri K, Sihvola N, Korpela R. Diet promotes sleep duration and quality. Nutr Res. 2012;32(5):309–19.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the participants in the trial for their enthusiastic and maintained collaboration.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the industry, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gizem Özata Uyar.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Çakir, B., Nişancı Kılınç, F., Özata Uyar, G. et al. The relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality and dietary intake in adults. Sleep Biol. Rhythms 18, 49–57 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-019-00244-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41105-019-00244-x

Keywords

Navigation