Association between sleep duration and sleep quality with sugar and sugar-sweetened beverages intake among university students

Background and aim

Both short sleep duration and intake of sugar or sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are associated with weight gain; but the linkage between sleep characteristics and sugar or SSBs intake was less studied. We aimed to evaluate the associations of sleep duration and sleep quality with sugar and SSBs intake among Iranian adults.

Method

This cross-sectional study consisted of 395 adults chosen among students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, based on a multistage cluster random sampling method. Sleep characteristics and dietary intakes and were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and a 147-item validated food frequency questionnaire, respectively.

Results

Mean age and percentage of women in the study population were 22.79 (year) and 51.8%, respectively. No significant difference was observed between sleep duration and sugar intake, but short sleepers (< 6 h/d) had higher consumption of SSBs intake (86.54 vs. 65.73 g/day; P = 0.05) in comparison with those who had more than 8 h/d of sleep. Poor quality sleepers had significantly higher intake of SSBs compared with those with good quality of sleeping (87.09 vs. 56.73 g/day; P = 0.004). No significant correlation was found between sleep duration and SSBs intake. However, sleep quality score was positively correlated with SSBs intake (r_p:0.14, P = 0.007) in whole population, such that higher quality score (defined as poor sleep quality) was correlated with greater consumption of SSBs. Similar results were found in younger individuals (r_p:0.27, P = 0.002) and non-obese participants (r_p:0.14, P = 0.006).

Conclusion

We found that sleep duration was not associated with sugar or SSBs intake in Iranian adults. Poor sleep quality was correlated with high consumption of SSBs, especially in younger and non-obese individuals. More prospective investigations are required to confirm these findings.