The Association Between Insomnia and Night Eating Behavior in Chinese Adults

Abstract

Abstract Objectives Few studies have examined whether a certain sleep disorder could have an impact on eating behavior. We, thus, examined whether insomnia, one of the most common sleep disorders, was associated with the frequency of night eating. Methods Included were 74,147 adult participants (52.2 ±14.2 years, 82.3% men) of the Kailuan Study, an ongoing Chinese cohort, who completed survey questions on sleep and diet quality in 2014–2015. Insomnia status (yes/no) was assessed using a Chinese version of the Athens Insomnia Scale. Night eating was assessed via a questionnaire and participants who reported eating at night were further asked for night eating frequency (times per week). Logistic regression models were used to calculate the odd ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of having night eating (yes/no) across insomnia status. General linear models were used to compare the mean and 95%CI of night eating frequency between participants with vs without insomnia. We adjusted for age, sex, baseline baPWV, total energy intake, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) score, physical activity, marriage status, occupation, education level, alcohol consumption, smoking status, body mass index, use of antihypertensive or antidiabetic drugs, systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, lipid profiles, sleep duration, and snoring in the multivariate model. Results Of the 74,147 participants, 2267 were categorized as having insomnia. The adjusted OR of having night eating behavior for participants with insomnia, compared to those without insomnia, was 1.75 (95% Cl: 1.56–1.96) in the multivariate-adjusted model. Insomnia was also positively associated with more frequent night eating behavior (adjusted difference = 0.29/wk, P < 0.001). Conclusions People with insomnia were more likely to have night eating. Funding Sources The Penn State University and the start-up grant from the college of health and human development and the department of nutritional sciences, Penn State University.