Not getting enough sleep? You could be eating more snacks

The analysis of data on almost 20,000 American adults showed a link between not meeting sleep recommendations and eating more snack-related carbohydrates.

The findings of a new study suggest that people who miss the recommended seven or more hours of sleep per night might make poorer snacking choices than those who adhere to shut-eye guidelines. The study abstract has been published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the research will be presented in a poster session on October 18 at the 2021 Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo.

The analysis of data on almost 20,000 American adults showed a link between not meeting sleep recommendations and eating more snack-related carbohydrates, added sugar, fats and caffeine. It turns out that the favoured non-meal food categories - salty snacks and sweets and non-alcoholic drinks - are the same among adults regardless of sleep habits, but those getting less sleep tend to eat more snack calories in a day overall.

The research also revealed what appears to be a popular American habit not influenced by how much we sleep: snacking at night. "At night, we're drinking our calories and eating a lot of convenience foods," said Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University and senior author of the study.