The Relationship between Dietary Intake and Sleep Quality

Insufficient sleep is commonly associated with negative health outcomes, and healthy lifestyle recommendations often include suggestions for improving sleep hygiene. Similarly, poor diet habits are associated with a variety of health disorders, and a diet that follows the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans promotes improved health. This thesis seeks to explore the intersection between sleep and diet and how they relate. To assess the correlation between diet quality and sleep quality, total Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2010) score and sleep efficiency were compared for 422 healthy men and women between the ages of 21 and 35 years from the Energy Balance Study (EBS) (1). Participants were predominantly Caucasian (66.8%) with four of more years of college education (83.7%) and had a mean BMI of 25.3 ± 3.8 kg/m2. Participants spent an average of 7.99 ± 0.94 hours in bed with an average of 6.54 ± 0.89 hours of sleep time. Mean sleep efficiency across the sample was 82.12 ± 7.16 percent. The sample was split into two sleep efficiency groups (85% sleep efficiency group and 0.73 ± 0.81 for the ≥85% sleep efficiency group. No significant difference was found between groups (p = 0.88). The data suggest no relationship between diet quality and sleep quality in participants of the EBS when measured by total HEI-2010 score, whole to refined grain sub-score ratios, and sleep efficiency

momHealth: A Feasibility Study of a Multi-behavioral Health Intervention for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescent Mothers

Introduction. In 2016, 209,809 babies were born to mothers 15 -19 years of age, for a live birth rate of 20.3 per 1,000 in this age group. Many health issues surround adolescent mothers and their infants, many  which can be addressed through behavioral change. We examined feasibility and acceptability of momHealth, a Multiple Health Behavior Change (MHBC) intervention focused on breastfeeding, healthy eating/active living, and depression prevention among pregnant and parenting adolescents. Methods. We used a one-group quasi-experimental longitudinal design. Nine iPad-delivered education modules, text messaging, and virtual group and individual support were provided for 12 weeks, beginning at 32 weeks of pregnancy with follow-up to 3 months postpartum. Data were collected at three home visits and ten postpartum weekly and biweekly online surveys. Results. Although recruitment and attrition presented challenges, six participants enrolled; all were pregnant with their first child, single, and had a mean age of 17.7 years (SD = 1.4). Intervention participation ranged from 59% to 91% for intervention components and three peer support groups were held. Intervention feasibility was supported by reports of clear and relevant content, reasonable time burden, iPad ease of use, and acceptable intervention length. Data collection was reported as convenient and non-burdensome, but diet recalls and activity monitoring challenged some.    Conclusions. This was the first MHBC research in adolescent pregnant women to improve breastfeeding outcomes, healthy eating/active living, and depression prevention. Findings demonstrated strengths and challenges of the interventions and methods, support feasibility and acceptability of momhealth, and informed a pilot randomized trial.

Development of a novel tool for assessing coverage of implementation factors in health promotion program resources

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.Katharine B. Richardson Research Award at Children's Mercy Kansas CityNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number F32DK115146Institute of Education Sciences and U.S. Department of Education by grant R305A15027