An inability to reach the recommended seven or more hours of sleep per night often leads to poor snacking choices, which over time contributes to overweight, obesity and chronic disease, according to a new study.

The study abstract was published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and the research will be presented in a poster session on Oct. 18 at the 2021 Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo.

Researchers analyzed data from 19,650 U.S. adults between the ages of 20 and 60 who had participated from 2007 to 2018 in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey collects 24-hour dietary recalls from each participant, detailing what and when food was consumed. It also questions people about their average amount of nightly sleep during the work week.

Researchers found a link between not meeting sleep recommendations and eating more snack-related carbohydrates, added sugar, fats and caffeine.

“At night, we’re drinking our calories and eating a lot of convenience foods,” said Christopher Taylor, professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at The Ohio State University and senior author of the study. “Not only are we not sleeping when we stay up late, but we’re doing all these obesity-related behaviors: lack of physical activity, increased screen time, food choices that we’re consuming as snacks and not as meals. So it creates this bigger impact of meeting or not meeting sleep recommendations.”

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend that adults sleep seven hours or longer per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. Getting less sleep than recommended is associated with higher risk for a number of health problems, including weight gain and obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

“We know lack of sleep is linked to obesity from a broader scale, but it’s all these little behaviors that are anchored around how that happens,” Taylor said.

Compared to participants who slept seven or more hours a night, those who did not meet sleep recommendations were more likely to eat a morning snack and less likely to eat an afternoon snack, and ate higher quantities of snacks with more calories and less nutritional value.

Though there are many physiological factors at play in sleep’s relationship to health, Taylor said changing behavior by avoiding nightly snacking in particular could help adults not only meet the sleep guidelines, but also improve their diet.

“Meeting sleep recommendations helps us meet that specific need for sleep related to our health, but is also tied to not doing the things that can harm health,” said Taylor, a registered dietitian. “The longer we’re awake, the more opportunities we have to eat. And at night, those calories are coming from snacks and sweets. Every time we make those decisions, we’re introducing calories and items related to increased risk for chronic disease, and we’re not getting whole grains, fruits and vegetables.