Could emotional eating act as a mediator between sleep quality and food intake in female students?

BioPsychoSocial Medicine 13, Article number: 15 (2019) | Download Citation

Abstract

Background

Poor sleep quality is associated with overeating and unhealthy eating. The aim of this study was to investigate if emotional eating could act as a mediator between poor sleep quality and energy/macronutrients intake.

Methods

This cross-sectional study was performed with 150 female school-age students, 13 to 19 years old, living in Tabriz, Iran. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and Emotional Eating Questionnaire (EEQ) were completed for data collection. Intake of energy and proportion of calorie from carbohydrate, protein, and fat were evaluated by a semi-quantified food frequency questionnaire. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results

The mean (SD) of age, weight, and BMI were not statistically different between poor and good sleepers. The mean (SD) of PSQI score was 6.73 ± 2.88, with 75.3% of the participants experiencing poor sleep quality (PSQI> 5). Students with poor sleep quality had increased energy intake and their proportion of calorie intake from fat was higher (p<0.05). There was a positive correlation between poor sleep quality and emotional eating; however, emotional eating did not mediate the relationship between poor sleep quality and energy/macronutrients intake.

Conclusions

Emotional eating did not act as a mediator between poor sleep quality and energy/macronutrients intake in female students. However, poor sleep quality directly influenced energy intake and the proportion of calorie intake from fat as well as emotional eating.