Associations of dietary habits and sleep in older adults: a 9-year follow-up cohort study.

Abstract

China has faced rapid growth of its older adult population, shifting dietary landscape, and sleep-related problems. However, knowledge regarding the associations of dietary behavior on sleep-related outcomes with longitudinal data remains limited. This study investigates the relationships of dietary habits with sleep quality and duration. Using data from the Chinese Longitudinal Health Longevity Survey (CLHLS), older adults were included in the 9-year span between 2005 and 2014 (age ≥ 60; n = 62,552). Self-reported dietary habits, sleep quality, and sleep duration (hours) were assessed. Four types of dietary behaviors were identified: vegetables, fruits, egg, and meat. Cox proportional hazard models were used to explore the potential association between dietary habits and sleep status. The outcomes were self-reportedsleep quality and sufficient sleep duration (7-8h daily). In the study sample, the median age was 87years old, and approximately 57.2% of the study participants were female. More than 60% of the older adult population had good quality sleep, and almost 40% of participants slept 7-8h a day. In the fully adjusted Cox models, daily fruits, meat, and egg consumption were positively associated with sleep quality (all p < 0.05). Compared with participants who rarely consumed or did not consume vegetables, more frequent consumption was positively associated with sufficient sleep duration (all p < 0.0001) but was not associated with sleep quality. Older adults should be aware that sleep quality and duration might be related to their dietary habits.