The Consumption of Dietary Antioxidant Vitamins Modifies the Risk of Obesity among Korean Men with Short Sleep Duration

Short sleep duration has been reported to be associated with various health problems. This study examined the influence of sleep duration on the odds of being obese in relation to the consumption of dietary antioxidant vitamins among 3941 Korean men between 40 and 69 years of age. After adjusting for age, education, household income, marital status, insomnia, smoking and drinking status, participants with short sleep duration (<6 h) had significantly higher body mass index (p = 0.005), body fat mass (p = 0.010), body fat percentage (p = 0.021), waist circumference (p = 0.029), as well as the odds ratio (OR) of risk of obesity [OR (95% CI) = 1.467 (1.282–1.678)], compared to participants with optimal sleep duration (≥7 h). Short sleepers with a low consumption of dietary antioxidant vitamins had a higher risk of obesity than those with a high consumption of dietary antioxidant vitamins; however, this relationship did not hold among those with optimal sleep duration. Although a causal relationship among sleep-related variables could not be definitively demonstrated because of this study’s cross-sectional design, our results suggested that the increased risk of obesity associated with short sleep duration may be modified by the consumption of dietary antioxidant vitamins.