Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 13;18(1):e74-e81.
doi: 10.1055/s-0044-1786048. eCollection 2025 Mar.

Food Consumption and Sleep Disturbances in 9-year-old Children

Maria Emília de Carvalho Faria  1 , Silmara Salete de Barros Silva Mastroeni  1   2 , Lidiane Ferreira Schultz  1 , Zaíne Glaci Duarte Corrêa  2 , Renatha El Rafihi Ferreira  3 , Marco F Mastroeni  1   2
Affiliations

Food Consumption and Sleep Disturbances in 9-year-old Children

Maria Emília de Carvalho Faria et al. Sleep Sci. .

Abstract

Objective To assess the association of food consumption with sleep disturbances in 9-year-old children. Material and Methods The present study is part of a larger cohort study named Predictors of Maternal and Infant Excess Body Weight (PREDI) that was conducted in the homes of the participants during the fourth study follow-up. Anthropometric assessment and demographic, socioeconomic, food consumption, and sleep data were obtained. The children's food consumption was evaluated using the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (SISVAN, in the Portuguese acronym). Sleep habits were assessed using the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children to evaluate sleep pattern-related behaviors in children/adolescents aged 3 to 18 years. Data were self-reported by the mother and her child on the day of the visit. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association of food consumption with sleep disturbances in children at 9 years of age. Results Of the 142 children who participated in the study, 45.1% had sleep disturbances; most of them were boys (53.6%). The proportion of children with sleep disturbances was higher (55.6%) among children who did not consume fruits compared with those who ate fruits ( p = 0.008). Logistic regression analysis revealed that the lack of fruit consumption was associated with sleep disturbances (OR = 2.26, p = 0.023), even after adjustment for other predictors. Conclusion We showed that the lack of fruit consumption is a predictor of sleep disturbances. Since fruit consumption had a protective effect on sleep disturbances at 9 years of age, encouraging the consumption of fiber-rich foods may contribute to preventing the establishment of sleep problems even in infants.

Keywords: children; food consumption; fruits; sleep disturbance; sleep habits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interests The authors declare no conflict of interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow diagram of the Predictors of Maternal and Infant Excess Body Weight (PREDI) study, Joinville, Brazil, 2012–2021.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Dresp-Langley B, Hutt A. Digital Addiction and Sleep. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(11):6910. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lazaratou H, Soldatou A, Dikeos D. Medical comorbidity of sleep disorders in children and adolescents. Curr Opin Psychiatry. 2012;25(05):391–397. - PubMed
    1. Trosman I, Ivanenko A. Classification and Epidemiology of Sleep Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2021;30(01):47–64. - PubMed
    1. Westerlund L, Ray C, Roos E. Associations between sleeping habits and food consumption patterns among 10-11-year-old children in Finland. Br J Nutr. 2009;102(10):1531–1537. - PubMed
    1. Kruger A K, Reither E N, Peppard P E, Krueger P M, Hale L. Do sleep-deprived adolescents make less-healthy food choices? Br J Nutr. 2014;111(10):1898–1904. - PMC - PubMed