Actigraphic Sleep and Dietary Macronutrient Intake in Children Aged 6-9 Years Old: A Pilot Study

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between different sleep parameters and energy and macronutrient intake in school-aged children. A total of 203 children 6 to 9 years of age participated in this cross-sectional study. Anthropometric measurements were taken first. Diet was assessed with 3-day food logs and sleep was measured with a questionnaire on sleep quality and a wrist actigraph worn for at least 7 days. A decrease of 165.45 kcal was observed per each additional hour of sleep during the week (β (95% CI) = -165.45 (-274.01, -56.88); p = 0.003). This relationship was also observed for fat (β (95% CI) = -11.14 (-18.44, -3.84); p = 0.003) and protein (β (95% CI) = -13.27 (-22.52, -4.02); p = 0.005). An increase in weekend sleep efficiencies for those under the recommended threshold of 85% also had a similar association with energy (β (95% CI) = -847.43 (-1566.77, 128.09); p = 0.021) and carbohydrate (β (95% CI) = -83.96 (-161.76, -6.15); p = 0.035)) intake. An increase in habitual sleep variability was related with a slight increase in protein intake (β (95% CI) = 0.32 (0.031, 0.62); p = 0.031). Children who slept less had a higher energy intake, especially from fat and protein and those who presented inefficient sleep had a higher carbohydrate intake. Strategies to enhance sleep quality and quantity combined with dietary recommendations could help to improve energy and macronutrient intake levels in children.