Relationships of eating competence, sleep behaviors and quality, and overweight status among college students

Abstract

Little is known about the relationships between eating competence (intra-individual approach to eating and food-related attitudes and behaviors that entrains positive bio-psychosocial outcomes), and sleep behaviors and quality in college students, a high risk group for poor eating habits, weight gain and inadequate sleep. Thus, data from full-time college students (N=1035; 82% White; 61% female) aged 18-24 years from 5 U.S. universities were obtained from online questionnaires (eating competence (ecSI), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), physical activity, demographics) and physical assessments (measured height, weight), to explore sleep behavior and quality between eating competent (EC; ecSI score ≥ 32) and non-EC groups (ecSI < 32). Generalized linear models controlling for gender, body mass index, and physical activity were utilized. A higher proportion of those in the EC group reported adequate sleep quality (67% vs. 57% in non-EC, p=0.001), sleep duration of ≥ 7 hours nightly (58% vs. 50% in non-EC, p=0.007), and infrequent daytime dysfunction (72% vs. 65% in non-EC, p=0.02). When ecSI scores were grouped as tertiles, those in the highest tertile reported a higher prevalence of no sleep disturbances (7% vs. 2% in the lowest ecSI tertile, p=0.006) and lower prevalence of sleep medication use (10% vs. 15% in the lowest ecSI tertile, p=0.04). Results suggest that competent eaters are more likely to have better overall sleep quality and fewer sleep-related issues, compared to less competent eaters. These findings may inform future longitudinal studies, and health promotion and weight management interventions for young adults.

The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Eating Competence in A Sample of Canadian Post-Secondary Students

“…More than two-thirds of students were poor quality sleepers and slept significantly less hours per night compared to good quality sleepers. This is consistent with studies conducted in the United States and Europe which continue to find poor sleep quality at alarming levels among the post-secondary student population [6,28,39]. The mean sleep duration for the entire sample was 6.75 hours (SD 1.44) which is just under the minimum National Sleep Foundation's recommended sleep duration of 7 to 9 hours per day for young adults [40].…”

“…A global score > 5 is indicative of a poor-quality sleeper, while a score of ≤ 5 is indicative of a good-quality sleeper. The PSQI is a reliable and valid tool [33] and has been used in college students [6,28].…”

“…Prior research examining the relationship between sleep and eating competence among postsecondary student populations has focused on sleep duration (i.e., number of hours slept at night) rather than sleep quality [28]. Sleep quality, as defined by the National Sleep Foundation, includes the following key determinants: 1) sleep more time in bed (at least 85% of total time), 2) falling asleep in 30-minutes or less, 3) waking up no more than once per night, and 4) being awake for 20-minutes or less after initially falling asleep [29].…”

Associations of Eating Disorder with Sleep Status and Anthropometric Measurements in Female Adolescents in Zanjan, Iran

“…The findings of another study, which was conducted on students aged 18-24 years using the PSQI and eating competence questionnaire, suggested that in comparison to less competent eater students, competent eaters had better sleep quality and fewer sleep-related problems (e.g., daytime dysfunction and sleep disturbances). Additionally, low eating competence and poor sleep quality were reported to be correlated with overweightness and obesity [28]. Inconsistently, the results of the present study demonstrated no significant correlations between BMI and sleep quality, which is also in contrast to a recent metaanalysis, which denoted that obesity was associated with Shorter sleep duration [29,30].…”

The influence of activities and nutrition status to university students’ achievements

“…A research to male students in Nigeria shows that their daily sleeping duration is 7.42 hours/day, standing time of 1.92 hours/day, and private activity of 1.57 hours/day 15 . In Nigerian teenagers Students' mean sleep duration during school days was 9.33 ± 2.29 h compared to 10.09 ± 1.32 h at weekend (P < 0.05) 16 .The research to sleeping in EC group (Eating competent) in United States of America shows that they have higher proportion of sleeping quality (67% vs 57% in non-EC, p = 0,001), sleeping duration of ≥ 7 hours (58% vs 50% in non-EC, p = 0,007), and time disfunction (72% vs 65% in non-EC, p = 0,02) 17 .…”