Morning lark or night owl? Understanding the role of sleep quality and chronotype on dietary quality and hedonic hunger in university students.

Abstract

The role of sleep quality and chronotype on diet quality and hedonic hunger has not been fully clarified. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine these associations and included a total of 2124 participants (1459 women and 665 men; mean age 21.3 ± 2.5 years). Data were collected using validated instruments: the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ) to assess chronotype, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) for sleep quality, the Power of Food Scale (PFS) and Turkish Palatable Eating Motives Scale (T-PEMS) to evaluate hedonic hunger, and a 24-hour dietary recall to determine diet quality via the Healthy Eating Index-2020 (HEI-2020). Anthropometric measurements were obtained by the researcher. Results indicated that men had significantly higher body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.001) and were more likely to exhibit an evening chronotype (p = 0.023), whereas women demonstrated higher MEQ and T-PEMS scores (p < 0.001). Poor sleep quality was prevalent in 80.6% of participants and was associated with increased T-PEMS (p < 0.001). Evening chronotypes exhibited significantly poorer sleep quality, higher T-PEMS scores, and lower HEI-2020 scores compared to morning types (p < 0.001). These findings may indicate that both sleep patterns and circadian preferences can play a significant role in shaping diet quality among university students.