(OR01-06-24) Food Security Is Associated With Sleep Regularity and Mediated by Specific Nutrients Among U.S. Adults

Objectives: Food Security (FS), the condition of having access to or intake of enough food, is related to health promoting behaviors, such as sleep quality and duration. The sleep regularity index (SRI), a measure of the similarity of an individual’s day to day sleep-wake cycle, may be predictive of an individual’s health or risk for chronic disease. Associations between FS and SRI have not been reported to date. This work is aimed to investigate the association between FS and SRI, and to identify if specific nutrients related to sleep function may mediate this relationship.

Methods: Using data from the 2011-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) cycles, we determined FS scores for U.S. adults (≥20 years of age). SRI was calculated with actigraphy data generated from ActiGraph model GT3X+ work by participants for seven days. Nutrient data was obtained from 24-hour recalls obtained the day prior to SRI measurement and one day within ActiGraph measurement. Serum biomarkers were measured on 1 day prior to actigraph measurement. Sociodemographic data and self-reported depression scores were included as co-variates. SPSS Complex Samples frequencies, descriptives, general linear model, and logistic regression were used to describe the sample and assess the relationships between variables. PROCESS macros were used for mediation analysis.

Results: Among the NHANES sample (n = 6,769, mean age = 49.4 (SE =0.42), female gender 51.8%, mean BMI = 29.1 (SE = 0.15), married 63.4%). Adults reporting very low food security (high food insecurity) had significantly lower SRI scores compared to those with low, marginal, and full food security. Food security was directly associated with SRI (p < .001), even when controlling for age, sex, marital status, education, diabetic status, obese status, race/ethnicity, and depression status. Nutrient intake and serum levels for total protein, total fat, folate, and palmitate were found to be potential mediators of this association, in unadjusted and adjusted models.

Conclusions: FS and SRI are directly associated, and specific nutrients mediate this relationship. This suggests that obtaining specific nutrients, and thus nutrition security, within the diet of those who experience very low FS may be relevant when evaluating the role of FS with health behaviors.

Funding Sources: Intramural Research Program NIH Clinical Center