-
Author: Dalton, Stacy, L Title: Sleep-Obesity Association among
UW-Stout College Students through
Assessment of Weight Status and Sleep and Breakfast Behaviors
The accompanying research report is submitted to the University of
Wisconsin-Stout, Graduate School in partial
completion of the requirements for the
Graduate Degree/ Major: MS Food and Nutritional Science
Research Adviser: Ann Parsons, Ph.D.
Submission TennN ear: August, 2011
Number of Pages: 65
Style Manual Used: American Psychological Association, 6th
edition
RECEIVED AUG 08 2011
GRADUATE SCHOOL
[8J I understand that this research report must be officially
approved by the Graduate School and that an electronic copy of the
approved version will be made available through the University
Library website [8J I attest that the research report is my
original work (that any copyrightable materials have been used with
the permission of the original authors), and as such, it is
automatically protected by the laws, rules, and regulations of the
U.S. Copyright Office.
STUDENT'S NAME: Stacy Dalton
STUDENT'SSIGNATURK ~~\J= DATE: '2 /31 [\ ADVISER'S NAME
(Committee Chair ifMS Plan A or EdS Thesis or Field
Project/Problem): Ann Parsons, PhD
ADVISER'S SIGNATURE: A- ~ ~~ DATE: 4~ 3, Chl/ .........
_--------_ .. _-_ .. _------------- .. ------......... --_ ..... ..
_----_ .............. __ ...... _------------_ .. _---------------
.. --_ .. _---------_ .. _------_ .. _ ....... ... This section for
MS Plan A Thesis or EdS ThesislField Project papers only Committee
members (other than your adviser who is listed in the section
above)
1. CMTE MEMBER'S NAME: Charlene Schmidt, PhD, RD, CD
SIGNATURE: ~1~~ DATE: ~ -3-\\ 2. CMTE MEMBER'S NAME: Carol
Seaborn, PhD, RD, CD, CFCS
SIGNATURE: DATE: ~ - 3 - Il 3. CMTE MEMBER'S NAME:
SIGNATURE: DATE:
This section to be completed by the Graduate School This fInal
research report has been approved by the Graduate School.
(Director, Office of Graduate Studies) (Date)
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2
Dalton, Stacy, L. Sleep-Obesity Association among UW-Stout
College Students through
Assessment of Weight Status and Sleep and Breakfast
Behaviors
Abstract
Obesity among the United States population has increased
considerably over the last 40
years, while sleep duration has noticeably decreased. An
association between sleep and obesity
is evident and previous research has shown this to be true. This
study aimed to examine the
sleep-obesity association among UW-Stout college students
through the assessment of weight
status and sleep and breakfast behaviors. Three-hundred
thirty-five students participated in the
study through the completion of an online survey about usual
sleep and breakfast behaviors and
perceptions. Sleep patterns changed when school was in session
and out of session relative to
the week/weekend, with students sleeping the longest durations
on the weekends when school
was not in session. During the week 62.8% (n=209) of students
sleep more when school was in
session than not in session, conversely during the weekend 60.7%
(n=197) slept the same when
school was in session than out of session. Breakfast eating was
12% higher in the ―Yes, most of
the time‖ category when school was not in session compared to in
session (33%, 21%,
respectively). A difference in sleep patterns and BMI was
observed between short sleep
durations (9 hours), with the
greatest difference between 9 hours. Responses about the
importance of breakfast
and sleep were found to correlate with behavior. Furthermore,
the observed correlation between
student behaviors and student perceptions suggest that school
sleep and breakfast education
programs should support improvement in students’ sleep patterns
and breakfast eating behaviors.
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Acknowledgements
This research project would not have been possible without the
support of many key
people in my life. I wish to express much gratitude to my
committee chair, Dr. Ann Parsons for
all the support, encouragement and assistance she provided
throughout this process. I could not
have done this without her guidance. I also have much gratitude
to my other committee
members Dr. Charlene Schmidt and Dr. Carol Seaborn for all of
their assistance throughout the
last few years and especially with the completion of this
research project.
I would also like to thank Susan Greene for all her help with
the statistical analysis, Josh
Hachmeister for his assistance with Qualtrics, and the
librarians at the University of Wisconsin-
Stout for helping me get started with my research.
Finally, I would like to thank the two key people in my personal
life that supported me in
countless ways throughout this journey: my mom for believing in
me and always encouraging
me, and Dustin for loving me and supporting me though this long,
and often stressful process. I
love you both so much and could not have done this without
you!
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Table of Contents
....................................................................................................................................................
Page
Abstract
............................................................................................................................................2
List of Tables
...................................................................................................................................6
List of Figures
..................................................................................................................................7
Chapter I: Introduction
....................................................................................................................8
Statement of the Problem
...................................................................................................10
Purpose of the Study
..........................................................................................................10
Assumptions of the Study
..................................................................................................11
Definition of
Terms............................................................................................................11
Limitations of the
Study.....................................................................................................12
Methodology
......................................................................................................................13
Chapter II: Literature Review
........................................................................................................15
Obesity in the United States
...............................................................................................15
Obesity among College Students
.......................................................................................16
Sleep in the United States
..................................................................................................17
Sleep and College Students
................................................................................................18
Association among Sleep and Obesity: An Overview
.......................................................19
Sleep Time Defined
...........................................................................................................22
Sleep Measure Methods
.....................................................................................................23
Chapter III: Methodology
..............................................................................................................24
Subject Selection and Description
.....................................................................................24
Survey Instrument
..............................................................................................................24
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Data Collection Procedures
................................................................................................25
Data Analysis
.....................................................................................................................25
Limitations
.........................................................................................................................26
Chapter IV: Results
........................................................................................................................28
Response Rate
....................................................................................................................28
Demographic Analysis
.......................................................................................................28
Student Sleep
Patterns........................................................................................................29
Student Breakfast
Habits....................................................................................................33
Sleep and Breakfast Comparison
.......................................................................................35
Height and Weight of Participants
.....................................................................................35
Body Mass Index Comparisons
.........................................................................................36
Student Sleep Habits Compared to Sleep Perceptions
.......................................................37
Student Breakfast Habits Compared to Importance of Breakfast
......................................38
Chapter V: Discussion
...................................................................................................................39
Limitations
.........................................................................................................................39
Conclusions
........................................................................................................................40
Recommendations
..............................................................................................................43
References
......................................................................................................................................46
Appendix A: IRB Approval
..........................................................................................................56
Appendix B: Research Survey
......................................................................................................57
Appendix C: Email to
Students.....................................................................................................63
Appendix D: Consent Form
..........................................................................................................64
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List of Tables
Table 1: Age and Year in School of Participating Students
..........................................................29
Table 2: Frequency Table of Sleep Patterns
..................................................................................30
Table 3: Sleep Differences between Weekend and Week
.............................................................32
Table 4: Sleep Differences between In Session and Not In
Session..............................................33
Table 5: BMI Distribution
.............................................................................................................36
Table 6: In Session and Not in Session Sleep Habits Compared to
Sleep Perceptions .................38
Table 7: UW-Stout Student Weight Status Compared with 2008
NHANES Data........................40
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List of Figures
Figure 1: Do you usually eat breakfast when you wake up?—in
session ......................................34
Figure 2: Do you usually eat breakfast when you wake up?—not in
session................................34
Figure 3: In session sleep and breakfast
........................................................................................35
Figure 4: In session and not in session nighttime sleep and BMI
..................................................37
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Chapter I: Introduction
Overweight and obesity are highly impactful health issues among
a large percentage of
the United States population. As of 2008 over 30% of adults in
the U.S. were considered to be
obese in most age and sex groups (Flegal, Carroll, Ogden, &
Curtin, 2010). Over the last 20
years there has been an alarming increase in obesity in the
United States. Obesity rates have
been rising slowly in the United States since 1960; however
within the last 20 years obesity has
raised alarmingly fast with twice as many adults now classified
as obese compared to the 60’s
(Philipson, Dai, Helmchen, & Variyam, 2004). The Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) reports that the obesity rate of Americans by state ranges
from 21-34%, with 36 states
having a prevalence of obesity 25% or higher (Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
[CDC], 2011b). Similar research found the greatest increases in
overweight and obesity to occur
among young adults between the ages of 18-29 years (Mokdad et
al., 1999). Obesity prevention
has become the center of much of the current health research,
and sleep deprivation, one of the
known risk factors associated with obesity, is also being
investigated.
Sleep deprivation is a major health issue in the United States
affecting more than a
quarter of the population and has been indirectly guided by the
constant demands of the
industrialized modern society (Spiegel, Knutson, Leproult,
Tasali, and Van Cauter, 2005).
Current sleep recommendations for adults are between 7-9 hours
of sleep per night (National
Sleep Foundation [NSF], 2011). Over the last few decades the
self-reported sleep duration of
United States Americans has decreased by 1.5-2 hours (NSF,
2002). According to the CDC, a
recent survey showed that just over 35% of the United States
adult population (>18 years)
reported getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night
(McKnight-Eily et al., 2011). A 2010 national
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college health survey reported that roughly 61% of college
students surveyed felt tired 3-7 days
out of the week (American College Health Association [ACHA],
2011).
Sleep deprivation or short sleep duration (SSD) is a lack of
restorative sleep and has been
found to have several negative health and nutritional
implications on the body, including a
negative association with weight gain and obesity (Chaput,
Brunet, & Tremblay, 2006; Chen,
Beydoun & Wang, 2008; Lopez-Garcia et al., 2008; Taheri,
Lin, Austin, Young, & Mignot,
2004; Vorona et al., 2005). SSD is a problem in the United
States across all age and social
groups (Anic, Titus-Ernstoff, Newcomb, Trentham-Dietz, &
Egan, 2010; Kohatsu, et al., 2006;
Lopez-Garcia et al., 2008; Spiegel et al., 2005). SSD has also
been found to influence hormonal
changes that can alter energy balance in the body and lead to
increased appetite and cravings for
carbohydrates (Nedeltcheva et al., 2009b; Taheri et al., 2004;
Speigel, Leprouit, & Van Cauter,
1999). The latter of these can contribute to poor nutritional
breakfast habits and may cause
weight gain.
Current research has established an association between SSD and
obesity; however, the
association is not fully understood. As the percentage of
obesity has grown throughout the years
in the United States, the average hours of sleep per night has
declined (Jones, Johnson, &
Harvey-Berino, 2008). Associations with SSD and increased BMI
have been found among
children, adolescents and adults (Chaput et al., 2006; Kripke,
Garfinkel, Wingard, Klauber, &
Marler, 2002; Taheri et al., 2004; Vorona et al., 2005). Along
with SSD, inadequate sleep
quality and alterations in sleep patterns have been found to be
contributing factors to obesity
(Kohatsu et al., 2006; Patel et al., 2008; Taheri et al.,
2004).
Obesity in the adolescence years is the leading predictor of
obesity in adulthood and this
makes the college-aged students an important population to look
at in regards to the obesity
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epidemic (Engeland, Bjorge, Tverdal, & Soggard, 2004). The
college years are a major
transition time for many young adults as many are moving away
from home and living on their
own for the first time. College students are faced with many new
challenges including meal
planning, sleeping schedules, and managing school, work and
social commitments. College
students typically get insufficient sleep during the school week
(ACHA, 2011; Brown, Buboltz,
& Soper, 2002) and either take naps or sleep longer hours
during the weekend to make up for
lost sleep (Brown et al., 2002; Forquer, Camden, Gabriau, &
Johnson, 2008).
Statement of the Problem
There is an increasing amount of literature available showing a
correlation between sleep
patterns and obesity. With the continued rise in obesity in this
country there is need for further
research to be conducted in regards to this topic. Much of the
current research on the association
between sleep and obesity does not look specifically at college
students. College students are a
unique population as there are added stresses of balancing the
demands of college courses,
school deadlines, extracurricular activities, work, and social
activities. The college years are
transitional years for students as many are living on their own
for the first time and learning to
manage the demands of life. These stresses and demands put
college students at an increased
risk for sleep deprivation. For these reasons research involving
college students sleep behaviors
and body mass index (BMI) is needed. This study looks at college
students at the University of
Wisconsin-Stout, their self-reported sleep habits, breakfast
consumption, BMI and perceptions.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to examine sleep patterns,
breakfast consumption and BMI
of University of Wisconsin-Stout college students. To the
knowledge of the investigator current
research has not investigated a college student population in
regards to SSD, BMI and breakfast
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consumption. The main objectives for this research study were to
identify if there was an
association between sleep patterns and breakfast habits, sleep
patterns and weight status and to
identify if student’s perceptions correlate with weight status
and behaviors. This study looked at
usual weekday versus usual weekend sleep patterns when school
was in session versus out of
session. At the conclusion of this investigation implications
were made from the results and
recommendations are made for continued research in this
topic.
Assumptions of the Study
It is assumed that the research participants answered the survey
questions honestly,
accurately, and to the best of their knowledge. It is also
assumed from the literature that self-
reported usual sleep patterns are an effective way to collect
data on sleep behavior (Taheri et al.,
2004). In addition, it is assumed that self reported height and
weight were based off of recent
measurement rather than perception.
Definition of Terms
Actigraphy. A device used to study sleep and wake patterns.
Body Mass Index (BMI). A common way to assess overweight and
obesity using a
weight-to-height ratio: BMI=weight (kg)/height2
(m2). There are four BMI classifications and
they are as follows: underweight (< 18.5), normal
(18.5-24.9), overweight (25.0-29.9), and
obesity (30.0+).
Circadian rhythm. A daily cycle of biological activity that is
present in humans and
based on a 24-hour period. Circadian rhythm is influenced by
regular variations in the
environment (i.e. light-dark cycles) and can be disrupted by
changes in daily schedules. It is also
referred to as a biological clock.
Ghrelin. A hormone that stimulates hunger.
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Leptin. A hormone that assists in the regulation of energy
intake and energy
expenditure, including appetite and metabolism. The level of
circulating leptin in the body is
directly proportional to the total amount of fat in the
body.
Obesity. A BMI of 30.0 or higher.
Overweight. A BMI between 25.0 and 29.9.
Qualtrics. An internet based survey software.
Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. A stage of sleep in a normal
sleep cycle
distinguished by movement of the eyes.
Short sleep duration (SSD). A shorter than average amount of
restorative sleep. In this
paper SSD refers to sleep durations shorter than 7 hours per
night. Sleep curtailment and sleep
deprivation are used interchangeably with SSD throughout this
paper.
Sleep apnea. A sleep disorder where there is one or more
episodes of abnormal breathing
pauses which disrupt a person’s normal sleep cycle.
Sleep efficiency. The ratio of the total time spent asleep to
the amount of time spent in
bed.
Limitations of the Study
This study investigated the self-reported usual sleep patterns
of UW-Stout college
students. This study did not, however, have students keep a
sleep diary to record actual sleep nor
did it use any type of electronic sleep device, such as an
actigraphy, to record sleep data. Other
limitations to this study are factors not investigated that may
also have influences on sleep,
obesity and breakfast habits such as alcohol usage, media usage,
and the use of caffeinated
beverages and supplements.
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This study was limited to the self-reported voluntary responses
by students. No
anthropometric data was taken and all participants’ BMI’s were
calculated using students’ self-
reported height and weight. Self-reporting leaves room for error
as students may under- or over-
estimate their height and weight. The adult BMI height-to-weight
equation was used to evaluate
all students’ weight status. The CCD currently recommends that
BMI for children and teens (2-
20 years) be calculated using a body mass index-for-age
(BMI-for-age) and gender since the
amount of body fat changes with age and varies between boys and
girls (CDC, 2011a). The
CDC states that healthy weight ranges, such as that for the
adult BMI ranges cannot be
accurately provided for children and teens because weight ranges
change monthly with age and
with height increases. Due to the fact that the survey made
students chose from a range of ages,
it was decided to use the adult calculation for BMI evaluation
for all participants. A limitation to
using BMI to evaluate weight status is that it does not take
body composition into account and so
might overestimate body fat in people with muscular build and
underestimate body fat in people
who have lost muscle.
Methodology
An online survey was created by the researcher through
Qualtrics, an online survey tool.
The research proposal (Appendix A) and the questionnaire
(Appendix B) were submitted to the
University of Wisconsin-Stout’s Institutional Review Board (IRB)
for approval. Following
approval from IRB the questionnaire was sent out to a 25% random
sample (2199) of University
of Wisconsin-Stout students via email addresses that were
obtained through Planning,
Assessment, Research and Quality [PARQ] at the University of
Wisconsin-Stout. Students were
emailed (Appendix C) regarding the opportunity to participate in
the survey and were sent a copy
of the research survey consent form (Appendix D) a brief
description of the research and a link
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that would take them directly to the survey on Qualtrics.
Completion of the survey implied
consent of participation in the research and was clearly stated
on the survey.
All surveys were collected within Qualtrics and results were
analyzed by the researcher
with the assistance of a statistician from the University of
Wisconsin-Stout Applied Research
Center. Statistical analysis was completed using Statistical
Package for Social Science (SPSS)
software program version 17.0.
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Chapter II: Literature Review
Within this research literature review trends, health concerns
and risk factors for obesity
and sleep in the United States will be discussed along with the
association between the two
topics. Obesity and sleep will also be examined among the
college student population.
Obesity in the United States
Obesity is an extremely impactful health issues among the U.S.
population and in many
other industrialized countries; and it is one of the leading
causes of death in the United States
(Resta et al., 2003). Over the last 20 years there has been an
alarming increase in obesity in the
United States. As of 2008 research from the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey
(NHANES) showed that over 30% of men and women in the U.S. are
considered to be obese in
most age and sex groups (Flegal et al., 2010). This prevalence
in obesity is observed in all but
one of the U. S. states. Obesity is a risk factor for an array
of different health issues, including
hypertension, type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, stroke,
coronary heart disease, sleep disorders
and psychological problems (Bjorntorp, 1998; Gangwisch et al.,
2006; Resta et al., 2003).
Obesity has also been found to affect daytime sleeping, life
expectancy and overall general
health (Resta et al., 2003; Olshansky et al., 2005).
There are many things that contribute to weight gain and obesity
such as sedentary
lifestyles, unhealthy eating habits, and socioeconomic status. A
variety of eating habits can
influence weight gain including frequency of eating during the
day, eating on the go or away
from home and not eating breakfast (Huang, Hu, Fan, & Tsai,
2010; Ma et al., 2003). Ma et al.
(2003) found an increased risk of obesity among those who did
not eat breakfast and among
those who ate more frequently away from home. Socioeconomic
status is associated with
overweight and obesity, as people of a higher socioeconomic
status tend to have a greater
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awareness of health and weight and place a higher importance on
maintaining a healthy lifestyle
and weight (Nelson, Gortmaker, Subramanian, Cheung, &
Wechsler, 2007).
Obesity among College Students
The general health effects of obesity usually become apparent
later in the adult life;
however, the root causes and poor lifestyle behaviors develop in
the earlier years (Buckworth &
Nigg, 2004; Engeland et al., 2004). Obesity in adolescence years
is a leading predictor of
obesity in adulthood and this makes the college students an
important population to look at in
regards to obesity prevention. College is a major transition
time for many young adults. College
students are faced with many new challenges as they move away
from home and begin managing
daily schedules on their own. Weight gain and unhealthy
behavioral patterns during the college
years may contribute to overweight and obesity in adulthood
(Engeland et al., 2004).
The college environment unintentionally supports an unhealthy
lifestyle. Environmental
influences such as buffet cafeterias, living arrangements, sleep
schedules, and sedentary
lifestyles support college obesity (Boyle & LaRose, 2008;
Levitsky & Youn, 2004; Nelson et al.,
2007; Ying, Lee, Tam Bridges, & Keating, 2007). College
students have reported spending over
30 hours per week in sedentary positions mostly due to studying
and media usage such as
television, video games, and computers (Buckworth et al., 2004;
Nelson et al., 2007). Racette et
al. (2005) found that 70% of students had a significant weight
gain during the first two years in
college. This was attributed to unhealthy dietary behaviors and
inactivity, including eating high
fat or fast food at least three times a week. A similar study
found 27% of students to be either
overweight or obese and the contributing factors to be unhealthy
dietary habits (i.e., low fruit,
vegetable and fiber intake) and low physical activity (Huang et
al., 2003). These activities and
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environmental influences promote unhealthy, unbalanced
lifestyles and can lead to significant
weight gain during college.
Sleep in the United States
Depriving the body of sleep is a common health issue in the
United States. Over the last
few decades the average sleep duration of a United States adult
has decreased by 1.5-2 hours
(NSF, 2002), with 35% of adults reporting less than seven hours
of sleep a night (Wheaten, Liu,
Perry, & Croft, 2011). The National Sleep Foundation
currently recommends that adults get
between 7-9 hours of sleep per night (NSF, 2011). Although
restorative sleep can vary
considerably for each individual and range outside of these
recommendations, the majority of
adults on average will need between 7-9 hours a night.
There are several health issues that are associated with short
sleep duration (SSD). SSD
has been found to have negative health implications on total
cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol,
triglycerides, energy expenditure, systolic blood pressure,
diabetes, hypertension and obesity
(Bjorvatn et al., 2007; Chaput et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2008;
Taheri et al., 2004; Vorona et al.,
2005). These health issues along with cardiovascular disease and
respiratory disorders may have
associations with both short and long sleep durations (CDC,
2011c; Gangwisch et al., 2006;
Stranges et al., 2008b). Sleep duration is a predictor in
susceptibility in the development of colds
as insufficient sleep affects the immune system negatively and
causes the body to have a lower
resistance to illness (Cohen, Doyle, Alper, Janicki-Deverts,
& Turner, 2009). Sleep restriction
has been shown to decrease glucose tolerance, compromise insulin
sensitivity, and cause weight
gain (Choi et al., 2008; Nedeltecheva et al., 2009b; Vorona et
al., 2005).
The constant demands of the industrialized society have driven
Americans to shorter
sleep durations (Spiegel et al., 2005). Modern cultural changes
such as increased television
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viewing, computer usage, cellular phones and gaming are
demanding more and more time and
impacting sleep patterns (Suganuma et al., 2007). These types of
media usage prior to night time
sleeping have been shown to decrease sleep time. Self-perceived
insufficient sleep after media
usage was found to be between 45-48% and younger respondents
between the ages of 15-19
years more frequently attributed media usage prior to sleep as a
factor in their perceived sleep
deficiency. Other factors attributed to decreased sleep are
caffeine (beverages and supplements),
alcohol use, physical activity relative to sleep time and
obesity (Resta et al., 2003; Suganuma et
al., 2007; Vgontzas et al., 2008). Obesity is a risk factor for
several different sleep problems
such as sleep apnea and poor sleep quality. Compared with those
of a healthy weight obese
individuals spend less time in the rapid eye movement sleep
stage and obese individuals have
less sleep efficiency compared to healthy weight individuals
(Resta et al., 2003; Vgontzas et al.,
2008).
Sleep and College Students
College students have a unique lifestyle in which they must
balance work, social and
school activities with sleep. Sleep often times is neglected to
make more time in the day for
other necessary activities. The American College Health
Association (ACHA) developed a
survey, the National College Health Assessment (NCHA) which is
designed to collect
information about college students on a wide range of health
topics. From the NCHA Fall 2010
survey 61% of college students surveyed ―felt tired, dragged out
or sleepy during the day‖ 3-7
days out of the week and 18% reported that sleep difficulties
were a major factor in affecting
individual academic performance (ACHA, 2011).
This suggests that college students are either not getting
enough sleep or not getting
quality sleep at night. Some studies have found that repeated
sleep deprivation leads to a decline
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19
in cognitive functioning and can have a negative effect on
performance, higher levels of stress,
attention deficit and difficulty learning (Kronholm et al, 2009;
Kim, Kim, Park, Choi, & Lee,
2011). Poor sleep quality among college students has also been
attributed to environmental
noise, worrying while trying to fall asleep, varying schedules
and going to bed thirsty (Brown et
al., 2002).
Association among Sleep and Obesity: An Overview
A clear association between the rise of obesity and the decline
in sleep duration is evident
from current research. As the percentage of obesity has grown
throughout the years in the
United States, the average hours of sleep per night has declined
(Jones et al., 2008). Sleep
duration has yet to be supported as a causal factor in obesity
and although the exact association is
unknown one does exists (Anic et al., 2007). Associations with
SSD and obesity have been
found across all social groups and spans from children to older
adults (Chaput et al., 2006; Chen
et al., 2008; Kripke et al., 2002; Lopez-Garcia, 2008; Taheri et
al., 2004; Vorona et al., 2005).
Several studies have looked at the association between SSD and
obesity in adults
(Bjorvatn et al., 2007; Kohatsu et al., 2006; Lauderdale et al.,
2008; Lopez-Garcia, 2008;
Moreno, Louzada, Teixerra, Borges & Lorenzi-Filho, 2006;
Stranges et al., 2008b; Taheri et al.,
2004; Vorona et al., 2005). Vorona et al. (2005) found that
total sleep time decreased as BMI
increased, except in the severely obese (BMI 40+). Their
findings also included a sleep
difference between normal BMI and BMI’s 25+ to be 16 minutes a
day (1.86 hours a week).
This data suggests that adding as little as 16 extra minutes of
sleep per day could potentially lead
to weight loss. Another study found an association with BMI and
sleep less than 8 hours per
night but did not see this association with sleep greater than 8
hours per night (Taheri et al.,
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20
2004). Kohatsu et al. (2006) found an association with BMI and
sleep in a rural adult population
among those reporting less than 6 hours of sleep a night.
Both short and long sleep duration (LSD) have been found to be
associated with obesity
in elderly women (Lopez-Garcia et al., 2008). Other adult
studies have also found a u-shape
association with obesity and SSD and LSD (Bjorvatn et al., 2007;
Stranges et al., 2008b).
Bjorvatn et al. (2007) also looked at the effect of SSD during
the week combined with LSD
during free time (i.e. weekends) and found no association with
obesity. One study saw a change
in energy expenditure accompanied by increased hunger, reduced
fat loss and increased loss of
fat free body mass in participants exposed to a 2 week energy
and sleep restriction (Nedeltcheva,
Kilkus, Imperial, Schoeller & Penev, 2010). The results of
this research emphasize the
importance of sleep for the maintenance of a healthy, lean body
during periods of calorie
restriction.
Along with SSD, both inadequate sleep quality and sleep pattern
alterations in sleep have
been found to be risk factors for weight gain and obesity
(Kohatsu et al., 2006; Patel et al. 2008;
Speigel et al., 2005; Taheri et al., 2004). Current research
suggests that adequate sleep duration
and sleep quality are important for normal metabolic and
hormonal functioning as well as for
appetite regulation (Van Cauter, Spiegel, Tasali, &
Leproult, 2008). SSD has been found to
influence hormonal changes that can alter energy balance in the
body and lead to increased
appetite, hunger, snacking and cravings for carbohydrates
(Nedeltcheva, Kessler, Imperial, &
Penev, 2009a; Spiegel et al., 1999; Spiegel, Tasali, Penev,
& Van Cauter, 2004). This can lead
to poor nutritional habits especially with food choices.
Ghrelin and leptin are two hormones which help regulate appetite
that are currently being
studied in regards to SSD. Alterations in these hormones might
be involved in the observed
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21
increases in BMI that are associated with SSD (Crisprim et
al.2007; Schmid, Hallschmid, Jauch-
Chara, Born & Schultes, 2008; Speigel et al., 1999; Taheri
et al., 2004; Vorona et al., 2005). The
exact association is unknown, however, the combination of a
reduction in leptin and an increase
in ghrelin result in increased hunger and food intake (Speigel
et al., 1999; Crisprim et al., 2007).
A single night of total sleep deprivation was found to increase
ghrelin levels and feelings of
hunger in healthy men of normal weight (Schmid et al., 2008).
Similar increases in ghrelin
levels were seen after two consecutive days of reduced sleep
duration to 4 hours a night. (Spiegel
et al., 2004). Also observed was a reduction in the hormone
leptin after sleep curtailment and an
observed increase in hunger in participants especially for high
carbohydrate, calorie-dense foods.
Likewise, short sleep duration was found to be associated with
decreased leptin (15.5%) and
elevated ghrelin (14.9%) when comparing 5 hours per night of
sleep with 8 hours per night of
sleep (Taheri et al., 2004). Similar to the previously mentioned
research this combination of
hormone fluctuations leads to an increase in appetite. Not all
research has observed associations
between sleep patterns, BMI, and the hormones ghrelin and leptin
(Littman et al., 2007).
Hormone fluctuations in the body, such as those mentioned above,
are thought to be
linked with the body’s circadian rhythm. Current epidemiological
studies provide evidence to a
link between circadian rhythm, sleep and metabolism (Crispim et
al., 2007; Gangwisch, 2009;
Taheri et al., 2004; Yildiz, Suchard, Wong, McCann &
Licinio, 2004). Ghrelin levels have been
found to increase from midnight to dawn, however, this was only
observed in the participants
who were thin or of normal weight (Yildiz et al., 2004). This
observation was not seen in obese
individuals thus suggesting the obese may have a flawed or
varied circadian rhythm.
Ancestral reasons may be an explanation as to why SSD would
trigger metabolic changes
in the body increasing calorie intake and fat deposition
(Gangwisch, 2009; Huang, Ramsey,
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22
Marcheva, & Bass, 2011). In the past the human body was more
closely synched with light
exposure from the sun and the changing of the seasons. Increased
daylight in summer months,
for instance, would lead to shorter nights of sleep in summer
and vice versa, decreased daylight
in winter months would lead to longer nights of sleep in winter
(Gangwisch, 2009). A higher
availability of food in summer months would have led to
increases in food consumption to
prepare the body for those winter months with lower food
availability. Therefore, SSD could
trigger metabolic changes in the body to eat more and store
energy for winter months. Today’s
culture with electricity, artificial lights and around the clock
entertainment is different. The days
are extended past daylight hours leading to problems with SSD
year round.
Sleep Time Defined
There are different ways in which sleep time has been defined
and studied in the current
research. Sleep duration is one way to define sleep time, and
studies have looked at the effects
of both short and long sleep durations (Bjorvatn et al., 2007;
Lopez-Garcia et al., 2008; Stranges
et al., 2008b). Nighttime sleep and/or total sleep in a 24-hour
period has also been studied
(Vorona et al., 2005). Sleep alterations have also been observed
focusing on changes in sleeping
behavior. Timing and quality of sleep time or sleep efficiency
has also been studied which
focuses on the quality of the sleep time opposed to the length
of sleep time (Bjorvatn et al., 2007;
Buxton et al., 2009). Another way researchers have studied sleep
time is by the timing of sleep.
This method focuses on when participants are going to bed and
when they rise and accounts for
the body’s circadian rhythm. Few studies have looked at student
sleep pattern differences when
school is in session versus out of session.
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23
Sleep Measure Methods
There are several methods that accurately measure sleep
patterns. One way is by using
an actigraphy. While using this method the participant wears a
small actimetry sensor usually
around the wrist that will measure total motor activity
throughout the 24-hour day (Ancoli-Israel
et al., 2003; Littner et al., 2002). This method can monitor
circadian rhythm patterns and sleep
disturbances during the night. This method, however, can be
expensive and therefore is not used
as often as other methods. The other main ways of collecting
sleep data rely on participants to
self-report behavior. These methods include a) sleep journals
where participants record their
actual sleep, b) usual sleep patterns where participants record
what their usual sleep pattern is
like, and c) sleep recalls where participants recall how much
they have slept in the past few days
or for the past week (Taheri et al., 2004). All three
self-reporting methods have been found to
provide accurate, stable sleep data and research has shown
self-reporting data and lab readings to
be quite consistent with one another.
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24
Chapter III: Methodology
Included in this chapter is a description of the survey tool
used for this research as well as
a description of participants and how they were selected.
Additionally, this chapter contains an
explanation of the analysis of the data collected and
limitations of the methodology used.
Subject Selection and Description
UW-Stout college students were chosen for this study due to
convenience factors for the
researcher and interest in local student health and behaviors.
Prior to data collection approval
from the University of Wisconsin-Stout Institutional Review
Board (IRB) was obtained
(Appendix A). Following IRB approval a Survey Declaration form
was completed and reviewed
by UW-Stout’s Survey Clearinghouse in Planning, Assessment,
Research and Quality (PARQ).
Following this review PARQ sent the researcher an email with a
distribution list of 2199 UW-
Stout students. All 2199 students from the distribution list
were sent an email regarding the
survey (Appendix B) and the invitation to participate in the
present study (Appendix C). Within
the email sent to students was a brief description about the
researcher, survey length (5-10
minutes), a link to take students directly to the survey on
Qualtrics and a copy of the implied
consent form (Appendix D). A statement regarding implied consent
was clearly written within
the email sent to students and on the survey itself saying that
completion of the survey implied
agreement to participate in the present research project. A
total of 335 students responded to the
email by participating in the Qualtrics survey.
Survey Instrument
The online survey used in this project was developed
specifically for the present research.
Survey questions were written following a review of previous
sleep and obesity related research
and some questions were adapted from existing surveys (Kohatsu
et al., 2006; Stamatakis, &
Brownson, 2008; Steptoe, Pearey & Wardle, 2006). The final
survey was entered online through
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25
Qualtrics, an internet based survey software. Demographic
information was collected at the
beginning of the survey and included: age, gender, race, height,
weight, major, and year in
school (Appendix B). The next set of survey questions involved
usual sleep behaviors when
school is in session and when school is out of session including
questions specific to the week
and weekend. Questions about normal breakfast habits, physical
activity, feeling rested and
feeling tired upon waking were also asked in regards to when
school is in session and out of
session. The final set of survey questions involved student
perceptions about general health
including importance of sleep, sacrificing sleep, importance of
breakfast, and exercise.
Data Collection Procedures
A link to the 31 question survey was emailed to 2199 (25% random
sample) University
of Wisconsin-Stout students in April 2011. Students used the
link in the email to obtain access
to the survey. Upon completion the survey was automatically
submitted to the Qualtrics
database from which the research was able to access the data for
analysis.
Data Analysis
There were a variety of statistical methods used for analyses in
this study. Statistical
analysis was completed using the Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) software
program version 17.0. Demographic analysis was done using
frequency tables for age, gender,
ethnicity, major, year in school, height and weight. Height and
weight means were expressed as
mean + standard deviation. Frequency tables were also used to
analyze nighttime and 24-hour
sleep times during the week and weekend both when school was in
session and not in session.
The Wilcoxcon signed ranks test and paired sample t-test were
used to compare differences
between sleep hours during the week and weekend. The same two
tests were used to analyze
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26
sleep hours when school was in session and not in session.
Student perceptions on sleep were
analyzed using Pearson correlation.
Breakfast habits were analyzed using frequency. A one-way ANOVA
(with Tukey’s post
hoc test) was used to evaluate the relationship between
breakfast habits and sleep patterns. A
Pearson correlation was used to analyze the strength of the
relationship between breakfast habits
when school was in session versus out of session. A Pearson
correlation was also used to
analyze the relationship between breakfast habits and the
importance of breakfast.
A one-way ANOVA (with Tukey’s post hoc test) was used to
evaluate the relationship
between BMI and sleep patterns. Sleep responses were converted
to numerical values so that
ANOVA analysis could be run on the data. Numeric values used in
place of sleep ranges for
ANOVA were 1-5 with 1 representing 9. Once values
were calculated using this scale the numbers were then converted
back into hours with 2.5 = 6.5
hours, 3.2 = 7.2 hours, etc.
Limitations
This study examined the self-reported usual sleep, height, and
weight of UW-Stout
college students. This study did not have students keep a sleep
diary to record actual sleep nor
did it use any type of electronic sleep device, such as an
actigraphy, to record sleep data. Self-
reported sleep has been found to be an effective way to collect
sleep data (Taheri et al., 2004).
This study also used self-reported height and weight to
calculate BMI of participants. No
anthropometric data was physically collected by the researcher.
Using BMI to observe student’s
weight status is another limitation to this study as BMI does
not take body composition into
account and so may over- or underestimate a person’s adiposity.
All participants’ BMI’s were
calculated using their self-reported height and weight and
evaluated using BMI for adults. The
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27
CCD currently recommends that BMI for children and teens (2-20
years) be calculated using a
body mass index-for-age (BMI-for-age) percentile since the
amount of body fat changes with age
(CDC, 2011a). The CDC has separate BMI-for-age growth charts for
girls and boys, because the
amount of fat varies between boys and girls. The CDC states that
healthy weight ranges, such as
that for the adult BMI ranges cannot be accurately provided for
children and teens because
weight ranges change monthly with age and with height
increases.
Work week and weekend were not differentiated for breakfast
consumption. Another
limitation to the methodology was within the age categories. The
age categories for students to
choose from were listed on the survey with 6 separate options.
The age 30 was mistakenly listed
in two of those choices once in 27-30 years and once in 30-35
years.
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28
Chapter IV: Results
The purpose of the present study was to examine the sleep
patterns, weight status, and
breakfast habits of University of Wisconsin-Stout college
students. To the knowledge of the
investigator current research has not looked at a college
student population in regards to sleep
deprivation, BMI and breakfast habits. The main objectives for
this research study were to
identify if there was an association between sleep patterns and
weight status, to identify if there
was an association between sleep patterns and breakfast habits
and to identify if student
perceptions correlate with behavior. This study also looked at
usual weekday versus usual
weekend sleep patterns, as well as usual sleep patterns when
school was in session versus out of
session. Sleep patterns and breakfast habits of UW-Stout college
students were also investigated
to see if there was a correlation with BMI.
Response Rate
Of the 2199 students that received the email there were 379
(17.2%) student responses.
Thirty-six respondents did not go past the initial demographic
questions and 8 respondents did
not answer at least 4 of the major research questions. These 44
responses were eliminated from
the data analysis (n=335). Not all respondents answered every
question as each question was
voluntary, so total n varies from question to question.
Demographic Analysis
Thirty-seven percent of the respondents were male (n=123) and
63% were female
(n=211). Ninety-three percent of respondents were
White/Caucasian (n=313). The remaining
seven percent were Hispanic 1.2 % (n=4), Asian 2.7% (n=9),
Native American 1.5% (n=5), and
3 respondents chose not to respond (0.9%).
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29
Seventy percent of the population was between the ages of 18-23.
Table 1 shows the
distribution of all age groups. Freshman respondents made up
13.5% (n=45) of the total
responses. Sophomores represented 15.6% of the population
(n=52). Juniors and seniors
represented 23.4% (n=78) and 23.1% (n=77), respectively. Eight
percent of the population were
5+ year seniors (n=27), 13% were graduate students (n=43), and
3% were other (n=11). Of the
59 bachelors and master degree programs offered at UW-Stout 53
were represented in the data.
Table 1
Age and Year in School of Participating Students
Age
Year in School
Age in years n % Class n %
18-20 110 32.8
Freshman 45 13.5
21-23 123 36.7
Sophomore 52 15.6
24-26 34 10.1
Junior 78 23.4
27-30 16 4.8
Senior 77 23.1
30-35 12 3.6
5+ year Senior 27 8.1
35+ 40 11.9
Graduate 43 12.9
Total 335 100
Other 11 3.3
Total 333 100
Student Sleep Patterns
When school was in session the hours slept per night varied from
week to weekend
(Table 2). During the school week 53.0% (36.8%, 7-7.9; 16.2%,
8-8.9) of students (n=177)
reported getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
On the weekend when school
was in session 60.8% (38.3%, 7-7.9; 23.4%, 8-8.9) of students
(n=199) reported getting 7-8.9
hours of sleep per night.
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30
Table 2
Frequency Table of Sleep Patterns
Hours of Sleep
Week Weekend
n % n %
In Session Night
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31
6-6.9) getting less than 7 hours within a 24-hour period
(n=105). During the weekend when
school was in session 15.3% (2.8%,
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32
than during the week. Again, a similar pattern was observed for
the 24-hour sleep when school
was not in session (58.9%, 33.3%, and 7.8%, respectively).
A paired sample t-test showed a difference in nighttime sleep
(-1.02 hours, p
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33
During the weekend the majority of students (60.7%, n=198) slept
the same amount of
nighttime sleep when school was in session and not in session,
12.9% (n=42) slept more when
school was in session than not in session, and 26.4% (n=86)
slept less. A similar pattern of in
session and not in session differences was observed for the
24-hour sleep on the weekend
(62.6%, 15.3%, and 22.1%, respectively).
A paired sample t-test showed a significant difference in
nighttime sleep (-.92 hours,
p
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34
Responses varied from in session to out of session with a slight
shift towards ―Yes, most of the
time‖ when school was not in session compared to in session
(21%, 33%, respectively). The
responses ―Yes, most of the time‖ and ―Yes, all the time‖
together increased 10% between in
session and not in session (55% and 65%, respectively); whereas
the combined responses ―No,
almost never‖ and ―Yes once in awhile‖ decreased 15% between in
session and not in session
(37% and 22%, respectively).
Figure 1. Do you usually eat breakfast when you wake-up?—in
session
Figure 2. Do you usually eat breakfast when you wake-up?—not in
session
20%
17%
9%21%
34%
In Session
No, almost never
Yes, once in awhile
Yes, some of the time
Yes, most of the time
Yes, all the time
9%
13%
14%
33%
32%
Not in Session
No, almost never
Yes, once in awhile
Yes, some of the time
Yes, most of the time
Yes, all the time
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35
Sleep and Breakfast Comparison
A one-way ANOVA (with a Tukey’s post hoc test) was used to
analyze and compare
sleep responses with breakfast eating (Figure 3). A difference
in breakfast and sleep patterns
was observed during the week when school was in session for both
nighttime sleep and 24-hour
sleep (p
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36
weeks (n=199) and 88% of the respondents had checked their
weight within the last three months
(n=296). Only, three percent of the population had checked their
weight over a year ago or did
not remember when they checked their weight (n=10).
Body Mass Index Comparisons
Body mass index (BMI) classified participants into underweight,
normal weight,
overweight and obese. Table 5 shows 54.6% (n=178) of total
participants to be of normal weight
(61.5% female, 43.0% male). Males had the highest percentage of
overweight (35.5%) and
obesity (19.8%). Overweight and obesity for the total population
were 27.9% and 16.6%,
respectively.
Table 5
BMI Distribution
BMI Category Both Sexes Female Male
n % n % n % Underweight 3 0.9 1 0.5 2 1.7
Normal weight 178 54.6 126 61.5 52 43.0
Overweight 91 27.9 48 23.4 43 35.5
Obese 54 16.6 30 14.6 24 19.8
Total 326 100 205 100 121 100
Figure 4 displays student responses for in session and not in
session nighttime sleep
compared to student BMI’s. During in session weekend sleep there
was a significant difference
in BMI for those reporting 6 hours of
sleep a night. Differences were also seen during the week when
school was not in session
between those reporting 8-8.9 hours and >9 hours with those
reporting
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37
similar difference is seen between >9 hours of sleep and
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38
Table 6
In Session and Not in Session Sleep Habits Compared to Sleep
Perceptions
Categories Getting enough sleep
is important to me
I regularly sacrifice
sleep
In Session Week
Night -.406* .499*
24-hours -.426* .457*
Weekend hours
Night -.206* .089
24-hours -.211* .072
Not In Session Week
Night -.278* .173*
24-hours -.279* .157*
Weekend hours
Night -.188* -.004
24-hours -.160* .012
*=significant relationship, p
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39
Chapter V: Discussion
Increasing evidence has pointed towards an association between
sleep and obesity. This
chapter contains limitations of the study and survey tool,
conclusions made from the data and a
discussion of the findings from the research. This chapter ends
with recommendations and
implications for further research.
Limitations
It should be noted that this study has several limitations some
of which have been
identified in previous chapters. First, this study was not
demographically diverse. Although the
respondents to the survey represented the demographics of the
total population of UW-Stout,
over 90% were White/Caucasian. Thus, the results presented here
cannot be generalized to all
college students in the United States. A more diverse population
would have offered information
on ethnic differences if any exist.
A second limitation was that the online survey tool used was not
validated prior to data
collection. Validation of the survey would have provided
strength and confidence to the study.
In addition to this no pilot experiment was conducted prior to
implementing the final survey,
which may have impacted the results of the study. A pilot study
would have improved the
research design and strengthened statistical significance.
This study also had a relatively small sample size of 335
respondents completing the
online survey. A larger sample size would have given strength to
the study and would have
allowed for generalizations to have been made in regards to age
and year in school. Surveying
students from other universities would have provided a larger
sample size and would have
increased demographic diversity.
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40
Conclusion
The present research provided information on sleep patterns,
breakfast habits and BMI of
UW-Stout college students, as well as some student perceptions
of these topics. Similar to
previous studies, this study showed an association between short
sleep duration of
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41
The 2008 NHANES data showed that 68.3% of adults in the US are
considered to be
overweight and obese (Flegal et al., 2010). This suggests that
UW-Stout college students have
an average percentage of overweight and obesity below that of
the national average (Table 7).
Table 7 displays the differences in overweight and obesity from
the 2008 NHANES data and
data of the present study including the data specific to the
Caucasian population being that 96%
of the present study’s population was White/Caucasian.
Wheaten et al. (2011) reports that 35% of adults get less than
seven hours of sleep a
night. The present study showed that 43% of the population got
less than seven hours of
nighttime sleep during the week with only 15% of the population
getting less than seven hours of
sleep during the weekend when school was in session. This
suggests that sleep patterns change
from week to weekend for college students and similar changes
may be observed with non-
college students. When school was not in session sleep hours
increased, with fewer students
reporting less than seven hours of sleep per night during the
week and weekend. This suggests
that when school is not in session a higher percentage of
college students are getting the
recommended 7-9 hours (NSF, 2011) and suggests that college
student sleep patterns change
with respect to school session. This also suggests that there
are lifestyle changes between when
school is in session versus not in session. In addition, sleep
duration >9 hours increased on the
weekends when compared to the week when school was both in
session and not in session. This
change between week and weekend sleep behaviors suggest that
students may be trying to catch
up on lost sleep during the weekends.
Previous studies found an association between total sleep time
and BMI, where shorter
sleep times were accompanied with higher BMI’s (Bjorvatn et al.,
2007; Kohatsu et al., 2006).
Bjorvatn et al. (2007) saw a gradual increase in average BMI as
sleep hours decreased from 7-7.9
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42
hours (BMI=25.05) to 9 hours to 30.24 in
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43
study more than half of students said that they ate breakfast
most or all of the time regardless of
whether school was in session or not. The present study also
showed that breakfast habits
correlated with the value of the importance of breakfast,
showing that the more a student valued
the importance of eating breakfast the more often they ate
breakfast.
Recommendations
Results of the current research indicate that further studies on
college student sleep, BMI
and breakfast habits need to be done. Sleep and obesity are
associated but a causal relationship
has yet to be established, this makes research of these topics
difficult and variables hard to
control. Many things have been found to influence both sleep and
obesity such as sedentary
lifestyle, lack of physical activity, socioeconomic status,
breakfast skipping, media usage,
caffeine and a variety of environment influences (Buckworth et
al. 2004; Huang et al., 2003;
Huang et al., 2010; Ma et al., 2003; Nelson et al., 2007;
Stamatakis et al., 2008); and as this
study showed school session and weekday may influence this
relationship.
Eating patterns can influence both sleep and obesity. This study
looked at usual breakfast
habits and importance of breakfast, however it did not
investigate the location of breakfast eating
(i.e., at home, in the car, at a restaurant/cafeteria). Location
of eating can be especially important
when trying to understand college student behaviors and trends
and comparing on campus and
off campus student breakfast habits also warrants focus for
future studies.
Combining media usage with this study would have provided
further information on
influences to short sleep duration. Media use has been found to
influence sleep when used prior
to bedtime and can lead to a sedentary lifestyle (Suganuma et
al., 2007). College students are
often on their computers for school at all hours of the day
which may influence sleep patterns.
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44
Further research is needed in this area to observe the possible
influences computer and other
media usage has on student sleep patterns and BMI.
Observing how students change throughout their college career is
important to the
understanding the influences the college student lifestyle can
have on obesity long-term.
Previous studies have shown that poor lifestyle in adolescence
is a risk factor in adulthood
obesity (Buckwork et al., 2004; Engeland et al., 2004).
Following the same students from
freshman year to senior year and perhaps even beyond may offer
some unique benefits to
understanding theses influences on obesity and may assist in the
prevention of obesity.
Previous research found sleep hygiene awareness to be related to
sleep behaviors and
overall sleep quality and illustrated that sleep hygiene
education can influence sleep behaviors.
(Brown et al., 2002). The present study observed sleep behaviors
in relation to perceptions and
found that in most cases sleep perceptions matched behaviors,
however, it did not investigate the
possible influences sleep hygiene awareness has on sleep
behaviors. Nor did it look at sleep
hygiene education. Addressing the educational level of sleep
hygiene would have offered further
understanding into the influences of sleep behavior and could
assist in the development of an
educational tool for improving sleep hygiene among college
students. In addition, education on
the importance of breakfast may also influence breakfast eating
behavior as this study found the
correlation factor between breakfast habits and the importance
of breakfast to be strong.
This study used self-reported usual sleep to collect information
on student sleep patterns.
Sleep diaries and laboratory data were not collected in this
study. Although usual sleep has been
shown to be relatively consistent with sleep diaries and lab
recorded data (Taheri et al., 2004),
sleep diaries would provide a record of actual sleep versus
usual sleep and laboratory data could
further the understanding of sleep quality.
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45
This study used self-reported height and weight, which provided
an easy way to gain
information from students without having to have students
physically come on to campus to be
measured. However, self-reporting may have skewed data from
student’s under- or over-
estimating their height or weight. Height and weight were used
to calculate the BMI of
respondents in order to investigate a possible association
between sleep duration and obesity.
However, BMI does not take body composition into account and may
over- or under-estimate a
person’s BMI. Using skin-fold measurements or a Dual-emission
X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA)
is an alternative way to collect data on weight status that
would be more accurate and take body
composition into account. Using the DEXA can be a long and time
consuming process which
would require a larger time commitment from both the
participants and researcher. Collecting
skin-fold measurements can also be time-consuming and rely on
the accuracy of the person
doing the measurement. However, body composition data would be
more precise when using
one these methods compared to BMI and both should be considered
with future research.
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46
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APPENDIX A: IRB Approval
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APPENDIX B: Research Survey
Q33 ―This research has been approved by the UW-Stout IRB as
required by the Code of Federal
regulations Title 45 Part 46.‖ By completing the following
survey you agree to participate in the
project entitled Sleep and Nutrition Beliefs, Perceptions and
Habits of UW-Stout College
Students and are providing your informed consent. If you are
under the age of 18 you cannot take
this survey. Thank you!
Q1 Age: 18-20 (1), 21-23 (2), 24-26 (3), 27-30 (4), 30-35 (5),
>35 (6)
Q2 Gender: Male (1), Female (2)
Q7 Race/Ethnicity White/Caucasian (1), African American (2),
Hispanic (3), Asian (4), Native American (5), Pacific Islander
(6),
Other (7), No Response (8)
Q8 What year in school are you? Freshman (1), Sophomore (2),
Juni