The quality and duration of sleep are related to hedonic hunger: a cross-sectional study in university students

There is a relationship between extreme sleep duration and increased food intake. Some studies have reported that there was no change in the homeostatic aspects of energy balance, despite the increased nutrient intake, and in this case, the hedonic aspects may be effective. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations of hedonic hunger with sleep quality and duration among university students. This cross-sectional study was carried out on university students. An online questionnaire was applied in the study, in which 1144 participants were included. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality and duration, and the Power of Food Scale (PFS) and Palatable Eating Motives Scale (PEMS) for detecting hedonic hunger states. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between sleep quality and duration and hedonic hunger by modelling. Total PFS and PEMS scores were positively associated with PSQI scores after controlling for all possible confounding factors [β (95%CI) = 0.04 (0.03–0.05), p < 0.05; 0.06 (0.05–0.07), p < 0.05, respectively). The relationship between the subdimensions of the PFS, PEMS and PSQI remained statistically significant, except for food availability (PFS) and social motive (PEMS).After fully adjusting, the odds of having a high PEMS score increased in individuals with short or long sleep duration, but not PFS score [OR (95%CI) = 1.40 (1.09–1.83), p = 0.012; 0.98 (0.70–1.21), p = 0.878, respectively]. While a positive relationship was found between increased hedonic hunger and poor sleep quality, an inverse relationship was observed between ideal sleep duration and hedonic hunger. The findings suggest that improving sleep quality and duration can help reduce hedonic hunger, which increases the tendency to unhealthy and delicious foods and plays a role in weight gain.