The study carried out on 64 countries is without appeal: the more they drink sugary drinks and indulge in junk food, the more this has an impact on the quality of sleep of adolescents.
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- Junk food and sugary drinks are conducive to disturbing the sleep of adolescents.
- The more regularly they consume it, the more it disrupts their sleep.
Researchers from the University of Queensland (Australia) conducted a study that showed that excessive consumption of junk food was linked to poor quality sleep in adolescents. The results of their study were published on December 21, 2020 in EClininalMedicine.
Too much junk food and sugary drinks
The study was conducted on high school students from 64 countries by Asad Kahn, a researcher at the University of Queensland’s School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. The data he used was collected as part of the World Health Organization’s Global School Health Surveys between 2009 and 2016. They involved 175,261 students aged 12 to 15 in South Asia. Southeast, Africa, parts of South America and the Eastern Mediterranean.
According to him, the regular consumption of sugary soft drinks and “junk food”, that is to say ultra-processed food with negligible caloric interest, would be strongly associated with the sleep disorders experienced by adolescents around the world.
“Overall, 7.5% of teens reported experiencing stress-related sleep disturbances, which is more common among women than mensays Asad Khan. Sleep disturbances increase with more frequent consumption of soft drinks, which often contain caffeine, and/or fast foods, which are traditionally energy-dense and nutrient-poor.”
Different effects in boys and girls
According to the results of this study, teenagers who consume more than three soft drinks a day have a 55% increased risk of developing sleep disorders compared to those who drink it only once a day. Similarly, boys who ate junk food more than four times a week also had a 55% risk of developing sleep disturbances compared to those who ate only once a week. In girls, under the same conditions, this risk increases by 49%.
“Teenagers in high-income countries had the strongest association between frequent soft drink consumption and sleep disturbanceanalyzes Asad Khan. Since stress-related sleep disorders are more common in girls than in boys, girls should be a priority target group for related interventions that could target stress management and sleep quality. Strategies should be customized and adapted across countries or regions to meet their local needs. The family can also play an important role in promoting healthy eating, as the adoption and maintenance of children’s eating behaviors are influenced by their family environment.”
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