Sleep Duration and Weight Gain among Students at a Historically Black University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-2021

Abstract

Objective: We investigated sex differences in sleep and examined the association between objectively-measured sleep characteristics and weight gain among 54 black students at a historically black university in spring 2018. Methods: Participants wore a wearable tracker (Fitbit Alta) for an average of 68 days of sleep over the spring semester and 5.5 days of sleep over the spring break. They also completed a questionnaire. Results: Average sleep duration was 6 hours 35 minutes. More women had short sleep (< 7 hours / night) than men (92.1% vs 43.8%; p < .001). Women had shorter sleep (6 hours 24 minutes vs 7 hours 1 minute; p = .003), shorter naps (2 hours 4 minutes vs 2 hours 30 minutes; p = .043), and lower sleep efficiency (93.0% vs 94.1%; p = .048) than men. More women than men experienced weight gain (79.0% vs 68.8%, p < .05). We found an inverse relationship between sleep duration and weight gain in both sexes (r = -0.42, p < .05). Conclusions: Appropriate sleep and weight management should be considered to address sex disparities in sleep and weight gain among black students at historically black universities.

Publication Title

Health Behavior and Policy Review

Volume

8

Issue

1

First Page

71

Last Page

82

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

https://doi.org/10.14485/HBPR.8.1.7

Link to Full Text

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