TY  - JOUR
AU  - Papaconstantinou, E.
AU  - Quick, V.
AU  - Vogel, E.
AU  - Coffey, S.
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/10/31
TI  - The Relationship between Sleep Quality and Eating Competence in A Sample of Canadian Post-Secondary Students
JO  - OBM Neurobiology
SP  - 044
VL  - 03
IS  - 04
AB  - Background: Post-secondary students are at increased risk for sleep problems and poor eating behaviours that overtime may lead to negative health outcomes later in life. However, limited research has examined associations of sleep quality with eating behaviours and eating competence (e.g., being positive, flexible, and comfortable with eating and getting enough enjoyable and nutritious foods) among Canadian post-secondary students.
Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design, participants completed an online survey with valid and reliable measures that assessed sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), eating competence (Satter Eating Competence Inventory [ecSI]) and select eating behaviours (i.e., daily fruit and vegetable intake; weekly caffeine and alcohol intake). Participants were dichotomized into poor- and good-quality sleepers using the PSQI cut-off score (>5 = poor-quality sleeper). Independent t-tests examined sociodemographic (e.g., year in college) and health (e.g., Body Mass Index [BMI]) differences by sleep quality group. Binary logistic regression analyses controlling for BMI examined significant differences between quality sleep (good vs. poor) with eating behaviours. Significance level was set at p<0.05.
Results: Participants (n=184) were mostly female (86%) and pursuing full-time studies (93%) in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Most participants were categorized as poor-quality sleepers (69%, n=127), were not meeting the minimum of 7 hours of recommended hours of sleep per night (6.75±1.44SD) and had daily intakes of fruits and vegetables that fell below the recommended minimum. Good quality sleepers had higher eating attitudes (OR=1.23; 95% CI=1.10, 1.39; p<0.001), internal regulation (OR=1.24, 95% CI=1.05, 1.48; p=0.015), contextual skills (OR=1.13; 95% CI=1.03, 1.25; p=0.010), and overall eating competence (OR=1.07, 95% CI=1.03, 1.12; p=0.002) compared to poor-quality sleepers.
Conclusion: Campus health services should consider screening students for inadequate sleep behaviours, and when warranted, provide nutrition education that focus on skills to improve eating competence.
SN  - 2573-4407
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1904044
DO  - 10.21926/obm.neurobiol.1904044
ID  - Papaconstantinou2019
ER  -