Background: Although recent evidence suggests that children eat more when they sleep less, the reasons why remain unknown.
Purpose: To investigate how mild sleep deprivation impacts eating behaviour in children.
Methods: 105 children aged 8-12 years participated in a randomized crossover trial where they went to bed 1 hour later each night for one week (sleep restriction), and 1 hour earlier each night for one week (sleep extension), separated by a one-week washout. Desire to eat non-core foods, eating behaviours, parenting around food and wellbeing (Kidscreen-27) were measured at the end of each intervention week by questionnaire. Differences (95% CI) between sleep extension and restriction weeks were compared using mixed effect regression models.
Results: Children slept 40 (95% CI: 33, 47) minutes less per night during sleep restriction compared with extension. Intention to treat analyses showed no significant differences in their desire to eat non-core foods (-0.9; -3.0, 1.1) when sleep was restricted. However, caregivers reported choosing to feed their child ‘easy’ takeaways or snack foods in response to tiredness or mood. Children engaged in more emotional overeating (0.12; 0.01, 0.24) and undereating (0.15; 0.03, 0.27) when tired, with exploratory analyses revealing different findings by weight status; participants who were overweight had decreased satiety responsiveness (-0.30; -0.48.-0.12), and increased eating speed (0.27; 0.10, 0.44), while normal weight children had more emotional undereating (0.24; 0.11, 0.38) and food fussiness (0.15; 0.03, 0.28). Significant reductions in wellbeing at home and school occurred during sleep restriction.
Conclusion: Mild sleep deprivation of just 40 minutes/night does not change children’s desire to eat non-core foods. However, it did change how they ate in response to their emotions, particularly in relation to weight status. How parents respond around food with their tired children may also play a role in the sleep-obesity relationship and warrants further research.