The freshman sleep and health (FRoSH) study: Examining sleep and weight gain in incoming college freshmen

Abstract

Objective

Examine how changes in sleep duration, objectively measured by activity trackers, impact weight gain in incoming college freshman. Participants: Incoming college freshmen, age ≥ 18. Methods: We measured weight and daily sleep duration before college entry and through the 1st college quarter. Additionally, we examined changes in sleep variability, activity levels and smartphone screen time use as possible predictors of weight gain. Results: 75 participants completed the study. Total sleep duration decreased from 437.9 ± SD 57.3 minutes at baseline to 416.5 ± SD 68.6 minutes by the end of the first quarter (p = 6.6 × 10⁻³). (BMI) did not change significantly in this cohort. Higher sleep variability at baseline and an increase in sleep variability were associated with increases in BMI. Smartphone screen use was note to be high (235.2 ± SD 110.3 minutes/day) at the end of the first quarter. Conclusions: College weight gain may be affected by factors other than sleep duration, including sleep variability.

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2022.2032720

Keywords:

• College freshman
• screen time
• sleep
• weight gain

Conflict of interest disclosure

RLO has served as a consultant for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, outside the present work. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements, of the United States and received approval from the Scripps Institutional Review Board.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded in part by a NIH/NCATS flagship Clinical and Translational Science grant (UL1 TR001114).