Abstract
Introduction
Sleep health is linked to dietary choices, and skipping breakfast is associated with risk of negative health outcomes in adolescents. However, there is a lack of research on whether dimensions of sleep at night predict adolescents eating breakfast the next day. We investigated within- and between-person associations of multiple aspects of sleep with adolescent breakfast consumption.
Methods
Data were collected from a subset of the age 15 wave of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n=590). Teens wore an actigraphy device and completed daily surveys for ~1 week (mean=5.9 days). Surveys assessed subjective sleep quality (low–high) and consumption of breakfast (no/yes). Mixed models assessed whether actigraphy-measured sleep timing (onset, midpoint, and offset) and subjective sleep quality predicted odds of breakfast consumption in both within- and between-person models. A curvilinear association between sleep duration and breakfast consumption was also assessed. Irregularity of sleep duration and timing were tested as additional predictors, calculated as SD per person (in between-person models only). Analyses included random intercepts for participants and covariates: school day, boredom, loneliness, happiness, depressive symptoms, sex, race/ethnicity, body mass index, and household income.
Results
Within-person analyses revealed a significant curvilinear association between sleep duration and breakfast consumption, such that on nights when teens slept shorter or longer than their average, they had lower odds of eating breakfast the next day (p=.005). Additionally, on nights when teens had a later sleep midpoint or offset than their usual, they tended to skip breakfast the next day (both p<.05). Between-person models showed that teens who on average had later sleep timing (onset, midpoint, and offset) and who reported lower sleep quality had lower odds of eating breakfast (all p<.04). Lastly, teens with greater irregularity of sleep duration and sleep timing (midpoint and offset) had lower odds of eating breakfast (all p<.009).
Conclusion
Findings indicate that multiple dimensions of adolescent sleep health, including long and short sleep duration, later sleep timing, and poorer sleep quality, are associated with lower odds of eating breakfast. These sleep and dietary behaviors in adolescence may consequently impact future metabolic health.
Support (if any)
R01HD073352
Variability of Sleep Duration Is Related to Subjective Sleep Quality and Subjective Well-Being: An Actigraphy Study
