Associations between bedtime eating or drinking, sleep duration and wake after sleep onset: findings from the American time use survey

Sleep hygiene recommendations discourage eating before bedtime; however, the impact of mealtime on sleep has been inconsistent. We examined gender-stratified associations between eating or drinking 30 min). This study utilised 2003–2018 data from the American Time Use Survey, a nationally representative sample of USA residents aged ≥15 years. Participants recorded weekday/weekend activities during a 24-h period. Age-specific sleep duration and WASO were estimated categorically and continuously. Eating or drinking were identified from all activities recorded se sleep duration was 8·0 ± 0·006 h, and 6% of participants ate or drank v. those who did not, had 35 min (95% CI (30,39)) and 25 min (95 % CI (21,29)) longer sleep duration, respectively, as well as increased odds of WASO; women (OR=2·03, 95% CI (1·66,2·49)) and men (OR=2·64, 95% CI (2·08,3·36)). As the interval of eating or drinking prior to bedtime expanded, odds of short and long sleep durations and WASO decreased. This population-based data linked eating or drinking