Sleep duration and weight-loss behaviors – 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey

Background: Sleep complaints are common in individuals with eating disorders and may predict the development of other psychiatric disorders. Methods: We analyzed data from the 2007 Youth Risk Behavior Survey to determine if sleep duration was associated with weight-loss behaviors in US high-school students (N=12,052). Students were asked if they had engaged in the following weight-loss behaviors during the past 30 days to lose or maintain weight: exercising, dieting, fasting, taking diet pills, and vomiting/taking laxatives (purging). Sex-specific logistic regression analyses with race/ethnicity and grade as covariates were conducted using SUDAAN to account for the complex study design. Sleep duration categories included very short (<6 hours), short (6 or 7 hours), and the referent moderate (8 or 9 hours) group. Results: Among boys, very short sleepers were significantly (p<0.05) more likely than moderate sleepers to report exercising (58.2% vs. 53.4%), dieting (36.7% vs. 26.0%), fasting (13.1% vs. 4.3%), and purging (3.6% vs. 1.0%) to lose/maintain weight during the past 30 days. Among girls, the respective very short, short, and moderate sleepers varied (p<0.05) in dieting (61.1%, 54.2%, 48.0%), fasting (29.1%, 15.3%, 9.9%), and taking diet pills (13.4%, 6.6%, 4.5%). Prevalence of purging was significantly higher only for very short sleepers (12.6%, 6.0%, 3.9%). Conclusion: Short sleep duration is associated with weight-loss behaviors in this population.