Sleep and binge eating in early adolescents: a prospective cohort study.

Purpose: To determine the prospective associations between sleep disturbance and binge-eating disorder and behaviors in a national sample of early adolescents in the United States (US).
Methods: We analyzed prospective cohort data from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (N = 9428). Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the associations between several sleep variables (e.g., overall sleep disturbance, disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep [insomnia], duration; Year 2) and binge-eating disorder and behaviors (Year 3), adjusting for sociodemographic Year 2 binge-eating covariates.
Results: Overall sleep disturbance was prospectively associated with higher odds of binge-eating disorder (OR = 3.62, 95% CI 1.87-6.98) and binge-eating behaviors (OR = 1.59, 95% CI 1.17-2.16) 1 year later. Disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep were prospectively associated with higher odds of binge-eating disorder (OR = 1.12, 95% CI 1.05-1.19) and binge-eating behaviors (OR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.10). Sleep duration under 9 h was prospectively associated with greater binge-eating behaviors.
Conclusions: Sleep disturbance, insomnia symptoms, and shorter sleep duration were prospectively associated with binge eating in early adolescence. Healthcare providers should consider screening for binge-eating symptoms among early adolescents with sleep disturbance.
Level of Evidence: Level III: Evidence obtained from well-designed cohort or case-control analytic studies.
Competing Interests: Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Centralized institutional review board (IRB) approval was obtained from the University of California, San Diego. Study sites obtained approval from their respective IRBs, caregivers provided written informed consent, and each child provided written assent. Consent to publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors have no conflict to declare.
(© 2025. The Author(s).)