132 Impact of Experimentally Shortened Sleep on Meal Timing in Adolescents

Abstract

Introduction: Short sleep increases the risk for obesity in adolescents. One potential mechanism relates to when eating occurs, rather than what or how much is eaten. This study investigated the impact of shortened sleep on meal timing and late evening eating in adolescents. Methods: 93 healthy 14- to17-year-olds (62% female) completed a within-subject counterbalanced experimental sleep manipulation, engaging in shortened sleep (SS; 6.5 hours/night in bed) or healthy sleep (HS; 9.5 hours/night in bed), each for five nights, with order randomized. Sleep timing was verified through wrist-worn actigraphy. During each sleep period, adolescents completed 2-3 dietary recalls. Repeated-measure T-tests assessed the sleep manipulation effect on averaged times of the first and last eating episode, number of eating episodes after 8:00pm, and range of the daily eating period. Results: Youth averaged 2.2 hours/night longer sleep during HS than SS (p