Sleep timing behaviour, sleep duration and adherence to obesogenic dietary patterns from pre-school to school age: results from the Portuguese birth cohort Generation XXI

Abstract

In an obesogenic environment, short sleeping may increase opportunistic eating. The timing of sleep might also influence the drive to eat. This study investigated the prospective association of sleep timing and duration with diet in 5286 children from the Portuguese birth cohort Generation XXI, evaluated at 4 and 7 years of age. At 4 years, sleep duration was categorised into ≤10 and >10 h. Four sleep timing categories were generated based on the median split for sleep-onset and -offset times: 'Early Sleep-Early Wake'; 'Early Sleep-Late Wake'; 'Late Sleep-Early Wake'; 'Late Sleep-Late Wake'. At 7 years, diet was obtained by a food frequency questionnaire and three dietary patterns were included: 'Healthier', 'Energy-Dense Foods (EDF)' and 'Snacking'. The Healthy Eating Index was used to evaluate diet quality. Multinomial logistic regression models and generalised linear models were performed. Children who had a late sleep, independently of the time of waking up, had higher odds of following the 'EDF' pattern, compared with the 'Healthier'. Boys who had late sleep and/or late wake had also higher odds of following the 'Snacking' pattern and had poorer diet quality. In both sexes, a late sleep or late wake were associated with a lower diet quality, compared to the group 'Early Sleep-Early Wake', and independently of nap behaviour. In boys, shorter sleep duration was associated with a poorer diet. In conclusion, pre-schoolers with late bedtimes or wake-up times have worse dietary patterns and poorer diet quality at the age of 7 years, which seems to be independent of sleep duration.