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Short sleep time may be the main reason for irregular breakfast to cause overweight-a cross-sectional study
In recent years, the correlation between circadian rhythm and overweight and obesity has garnered considerable scholarly interest. To examine the association between sleep duration, breakfast regularity, and overweight, 1178 students from Qingdao University were selected for this work by Yang et al. (2024). The study included 601 males (average age 24.69 ± 0.80 years) and 569 females (average age 24.54 ± 0.70 years). Overweight levels were defined using waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR). Analyses were conducted to assess associations among overweight status, sleep characteristics (duration and onset time), breakfast regularity, sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI]), and the impact of sleep duration on breakfast regularity and overweight outcomes. Only 34.1% of the participants consumed breakfast daily, and those who ate breakfast 1–3 times per week showed a higher risk of being overweight. The influence of different frequencies of breakfast consumption on overweight was entirely mediated by sleep duration. Specifically, individuals who engaged in outdoor exercise more than five times per week tended to have longer sleep durations. Short sleep duration appears to be a primary factor contributing to irregular breakfast habits and subsequent overweight. The authors comment that adequate outdoor physical activity is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight. [NPID: students, overweight, sleep time, breakfast, cross-sectional study]
Year: 2024
