Diet quality, dietary patterns and short sleep duration: a cross-sectional population-based study

Area of Science:

• Nutrition Science
• Sleep Medicine
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Diet quality and dietary patterns are increasingly recognized as crucial factors influencing overall health.
• Sleep duration is a fundamental aspect of health, with both short and excessive durations linked to adverse outcomes.
• Understanding the interplay between diet and sleep is essential for developing targeted public health interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the cross-sectional association between habitual diet quality, specific dietary patterns, and sleep duration.
• To determine if diet quality score (DQS) and identified dietary patterns correlate with short sleep duration (<7 hours/night).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 838 men and 1065 women from the population-based Geelong Osteoporosis Study.
• Diet quality was assessed using a diet quality score (DQS) derived from a food-frequency questionnaire.
• Habitual dietary patterns were identified through factor analysis, and sleep duration was categorized as short (<7 hours) or adequate (≥7 hours).

Main Results:

• In men, a higher score for the traditional dietary pattern was associated with a 13% reduced odds of short sleep duration after adjustments.
• In women, each standard deviation increase in the diet quality score (DQS) was linked to a 21% reduced odds of short sleep duration.
• Women with adequate sleep duration reported higher scores for the modern dietary pattern compared to those with short or excessive sleep.

Conclusions:

• Diet quality score is significantly associated with adequate sleep duration (≥7 hours) in Australian women.
• Higher diet quality is linked to reduced odds of experiencing short sleep duration (<7 hours) among Australian women.
• These findings highlight the importance of diet quality in maintaining sufficient sleep duration in women.