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Eating and sleeping behaviour are known to interact with each other, yet research is limited in the context of menopausal women. The aim of this study was to examine whether menopausal status is associated with perceived problems in sleeping. Furthermore, we studied different aspects of eating behaviour as potential risk factors for poor sleep in menopausal women. The present study is exploratory in nature, thus the results should be interpreted as hypothesis-generating. We analysed the sleeping and eating behaviour of 1098 women aged 47-55 years and represented different menopausal statuses with regression analyses. Over 20% of them reported fairly poor or poor perceived sleep quality. A higher number of postmenopausal women reported experiencing at least fairly poor sleep quality compared with the other menopausal groups. However, in regression models controlled for several confounding factors menopausal status was not associated with measures of sleep. Women who reported more snacking-type eating behaviour were more likely to report shorter sleep duration, and more daytime tiredness. Externally cued eating was associated with shorter sleep duration and emotional eating was associated with experiencing daytime tiredness. However, after adjusting for multiple testing, it appears that eating behaviour is associated only with daytime tiredness. Menopausal women with sleeping problems may benefit from nutritional interventions targeting eating behaviour., (© 2024 The Authors. Journal of Sleep Research published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Sleep Research Society.)

Background: Estrogen deficiency during menopause, aging, reproductive history, and factors increasing intra-abdominal pressure may lead to structural and functional failure in the pelvic floor. Lifestyle choices, such as eating behavior, may contribute to pelvic floor disorders., Objectives: The objective of the study was to investigate associations of eating behavior with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders, that is, stress urinary incontinence, urgency urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, and constipation or defecation difficulties among middle-aged women., Design: A cross-sectional, observational study was performed using a population sample of 1098 Finnish women aged 47-55 years., Methods: Eating behavior, food consumption frequency, demographical, gynecological, and physical activity variables were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression models were used to assess the associations of eating behavior, food frequency, and symptoms of pelvic floor disorders. Models were adjusted with demographical, gynecological, and physical activity variables., Results: In adjusted models, middle-aged women with disordered eating style were more likely to experience the symptoms of stress urinary incontinence (odds ratio (OR) 1.5, p  = 0.002), and constipation or defecation difficulties (OR 1.4, p  = 0.041). Adding body mass index into the models abolished associations. Of the studied food items, more frequent consumption of ready-made, highly processed foods (OR 1.5, p  = 0.001), and fast foods (OR 1.5, p  = 0.005) were independently associated with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence regardless of eating style, whereas consuming ready-made foods (OR 1.4, p  = 0.048) was associated with symptoms of urgency urinary incontinence. Daily consumption of fruits (OR 0.8, p  = 0.034) was independently associated with symptoms of stress urinary incontinence. Furthermore, we observed that daily consumption of porridge was associated with symptoms of constipation or defecation difficulties (OR 1.7, p  = 0.010) independently of eating style. Alcohol consumption (OR 0.9, p  = 0.015) was inversely associated with constipation and defecation difficulties. Women with overall higher quality diet had lower odds for stress urinary incontinence (OR 0.9, p  = 0.002)., Conclusion: This study provides proof-of-concept evidence to the hypothesis that eating behavior and consuming certain food items are associated with perceived pelvic floor disorders. As a preventive action, eating behavior of women with the risk of these symptoms should be assessed, and guidance toward healthy eating patterns should be provided.

Objective: To investigate associations of early and middle adulthood physical activity (PA) with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders (PFDs), i.e. stress urinary incontinence (SUI), urge urinary incontinence (UUI), faecal incontinence (FI), constipation or defecation difficulties (CDDs) and feeling of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) among middle-aged women., Design: A cross-sectional, observational study with retrospective PA assessment., Setting: University Research Laboratory., Sample: A random population sample of 1098 Finnish women aged 47-55 years., Methods: Early adulthood PA, current PA, and demographic and gynaecological variables were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Logistic regression analyses were applied to study associations of PA variables with symptoms of PFDs. Potential confounding effects of demographic and gynaecological variables were controlled in multiple logistic regression models., Main Outcome Measures: Structured questionnaire-assessed retrospective PA assessment at the age of 17-29 years, current PA at middle age, and prevalence of symptoms of CDD, FI, POP, SUI and UUI., Results: Current PA was not independently associated with the occurrence of the symptoms of PFDs. Middle-aged women with an early adulthood history of competitive sports were more likely to experience symptoms of UUI (OR 2.16, 95% CI 1.10-4.24, p = 0.025) but not symptoms of SUI, FI, CDD or POP, whereas women with a history of regular PA were more likely to experience symptoms of FI (OR 4.41, 95% CI 1.05-18.49, p = 0.043) but no other symptoms of PFDs., Conclusions: Competitive sports during early adulthood may increase the risk of UUI in middle age. Regular PA during early adulthood may increase the risk of FI., (© 2023 The Authors. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)