Annals of Behavioral Medicine: One Partner’s Poor Sleep May Worsen the Other Partner’s Diet

Poor sleep in one partner may be associated not only with their own eating habits but also with how well the other partner maintains a healthy diet. This was the conclusion reached by researchers at Concordia University in Canada, who studied 204 cohabiting couples. The findings were published in the journal Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

The researchers found that people with poor sleep quality reported making less effort to maintain a healthy diet and having less confidence in their ability to stick to healthy eating habits. However, a similar association was observed in their partners — even when the partners themselves slept well.

One possible explanation, according to the researchers, is that people who sleep poorly may be more likely to choose high-calorie and particularly appealing foods and offer them to their partner. In addition, couples who live together typically eat the same meals and develop shared household eating routines.

“People whose partner is sleep-deprived actually reported being less confident in their ability to maintain a healthy diet and therefore making less effort,” explained Jean-Philippe Gouin, a professor in the Department of Psychology at Concordia University and one of the study’s authors.

The study included 204 couples — 408 people in total — with an average age of 42. At least one person in each couple was overweight or had obesity and was trying to change their diet or level of physical activity. Nearly 96% of participants reported trying to change their diet.

The participants were followed for three months. They completed questionnaires about sleep quality and diet at the beginning of the study, after one month, and after three months. In addition, during the first two weeks, participants recorded daily how actively they were trying to maintain healthy eating habits.

On average, participants’ diet quality improved slightly over the course of the study, while sleep quality did not change significantly. Women reported healthier diets and greater efforts to maintain healthy eating habits than men. However, the researchers found no evidence that sex altered the effect of one partner’s sleep on the other partner’s diet.

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