Does sleep quality affect intuitive eating and eating attitudes?: A cross-sectional study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of sleep quality on eating attitudes and intuitive eating behaviors in adults. The study was conducted with a total of 237 adults (33.8% male, 66.2% female) living in Ankara, Turkey. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews (37.56%) and Google forms (62.44%). The questionnaire included the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Eating Attitude Test-26 (EAT-26), Intuitive Eating Scale-2 (IES-2) and the International Physical Activity Assessment Questionnaire (IPAQ) - short form. Statistically significant negative correlations were found between sleep quality and both the IES-2 score and EAT-26 score. The average IES-2 score for participants with good sleep quality was 0.192 points higher than for those with poor sleep quality. In conclusion, sleep quality may affect intuitive eating and other eating behaviors. However, future studies with larger samples and analysis of hunger and satiety hormones are needed to clarify the relationship between sleep quality, intuitive eating and eating behaviors.