Dietary intake following experimentally restricted sleep in adolescents

Study objective: To examine the relationship between sleep and dietary intake in adolescents using an experimental sleep restriction protocol.

Design: Randomized crossover sleep restriction-extension paradigm.

Setting: Sleep obtained and monitored at home, diet measured during an office visit.

Participants: Forty-one typically developing adolescents age 14-16 years.

Interventions: The 3-week protocol consisting of a baseline week designed to stabilize the circadian rhythm, followed randomly by 5 consecutive nights of sleep restriction (6.5 hours in bed Monday-Friday) versus healthy sleep duration (10 hours in bed), a 2-night washout period, and a 5-night crossover period.

Measurements: Sleep was monitored via actigraphy and teens completed validated 24-hour diet recall interviews following each experimental condition.

Results: Paired-sample t-tests examined differences between conditions for consumption of key macronutrients and choices from dietary categories. Compared with the healthy sleep condition, sleep-restricted adolescents' diets were characterized by higher glycemic index and glycemic load and a trend toward more calories and carbohydrates, with no differences in fat or protein consumption. Exploratory analyses revealed the consumption of significantly more desserts and sweets during sleep restriction than healthy sleep.

Conclusions: Chronic sleep restriction during adolescence appears to cause increased consumption of foods with a high glycemic index, particularly desserts/sweets. The chronic sleep restriction common in adolescence may cause changes in dietary behaviors that increase risk of obesity and associated morbidity.