Eating behavior traits and sleep as determinants of weight loss in overweight and obese adults

OBJECTIVE: To examine the associations between eating behavior traits and weight loss according to sleep quality and duration in adults enrolled in common weight-loss interventions. METHODS: Participants included overweight and obese men and women (n=150) (mean±s.d. age, 38.8±8.6 years; mean±s.d. body mass index (BMI), 33.3±3.5 kg m(−2)) who were subjected to a dietary intervention over a period of 12–16 weeks. Anthropometric measurements, eating behavior traits (Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire), sleep quality (total Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score) and sleep duration (hours per night, self-reported from the PSQI) were assessed at both baseline and post intervention. Linear regression analysis was used to quantify the relationships between eating behavior traits and changes in anthropometric markers for all subjects and by sleep categories (short sleep: <7 h per night vs recommended sleep: ⩾7 h per night; poor sleep quality: ⩾5 PSQI score vs good sleep quality: <5 PSQI score). We adjusted for age, sex and baseline BMI in analyses. RESULTS: Baseline eating behavior traits were modest predictors of weight-loss success, but they were all significantly associated with their changes over the weight-loss intervention (P<0.01). The diet intervention induced significant changes in eating behavior traits and even more for those having a non-favorable eating behavior profile at baseline. We observed that changes in flexible control and strategic dieting behavior were constantly negatively associated with changes in body weight and fat mass (P<0.05) for recommended duration sleepers. The change in situational susceptibility to disinhibition was positively associated with the change in fat mass and body weight for those having healthy sleeping habits (P<0.05). For poor quality sleepers, the change in avoidance of fattening foods was negatively associated with changes in adiposity (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Eating behavior traits and sleep may act together to influence the outcome of weight-loss programs.