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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Boston, Massachusetts » Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #328703
Title: Short sleep duration and dietary intake: epidemiological evidence, mechanisms, and health implications

Author
item DASHTI, HASSAN - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item SCHEER, FRANK - Harvard University
item JACQUES, PAUL - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item LAMON-FAVA, STEFANIA - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University
item ORDOVAS, JOSE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University

Submitted to: Advances in Nutrition
Publication Type: Review Article
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/5/2015
Publication Date: 11/13/2015
Citation: Dashti, H., Scheer, F., Jacques, P.F., Lamon-Fava, S., Ordovas, J.M. 2015. Short sleep duration and dietary intake: epidemiological evidence, mechanisms, and health implications. Advances in Nutrition. 6:648-359.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Links between short sleep duration and obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease may be mechanistically mediated through changes in dietary intake. This review aims to provide an overview of recent epidemiologic studies on the relationships between habitual short sleep duration and dietary intake in adults. Studies have observed associations between short sleep and higher total energy intake and differences in dietary intake, most consistently higher fat intake, lower fruit intake, and lower quality diets. Evidence also suggests that short sleepers have irregular eating behavior deviating from the traditional 3 meals per day to fewer main meals and more frequent, smaller, energy dense and highly palatable snacks at night. While the impact of short sleep duration on dietary intake tends to be small, if chronically pursued it may contribute to an increased risk of obesity and related chronic disease. Taking into account these epidemiologic relationships and causal evidence between sleep loss and metabolism and cardiovascular function, health promotion strategies should emphasize improved sleep as an additional factor for health and weight management. Moreover, future sleep interventions in controlled studies and sleep extension trials in chronic short sleepers are imperative for establishing the causal relationship between short sleep duration and changes in dietary intake.