Association of alternative healthy eating index with sleep quality among female students

Poor sleep quality is common among university students and is linked to metabolic disorders, obesity, and mental health issues. Emerging evidence highlights the role of diet in regulating sleep, with healthier dietary patterns and specific foods shown to improve sleep quality. The Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) evaluates overall diet quality and its association with health outcomes. This cross-sectional study aimed to explore the relationship between diet quality, measured by the AHEI, and sleep quality in university students, while adjusting for potential confounders such as physical activity, daily energy intake, and socio-economic status.

The findings revealed no significant relationship between AHEI and sleep quality, both before and after adjusting for potential confounding variables (P = 0.781, P = 0.454). However, specific components of the AHEI, particularly fruit and polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), showed significant associations with sleep quality. Higher fruit intake was linked to better sleep quality (OR = 0.856, P = 0.013), while surprisingly, increased PUFA consumption was associated with poorer sleep quality (OR = 1.377, P = 0.007). These results suggest that while AHEI did not correlate with sleep quality, individual dietary components, particularly fruit and PUFAs, might be associated with sleep quality.