Poor Sleep Can Infect Your Partner's Diet, Study Finds

Overeating and feeling exhausted? You might just blame your partner for a bad night's sleep. New research suggests your diet can actually shift if they do not get enough rest. While scientists knew poor sleep ruined personal eating choices, this study proves the problem spreads to significant others too. Couples who share a bed often share meals, meaning one person grabbing junk food creates a ripple effect that hits their partner hard. The findings appear in the journal Annals of Behavioural Medicine and tracked 204 couples living together across Canada. Most participants were around forty-two years old when they joined the project. Everyone answered questions about their rest and food intake at the start, then again after one month and three months passed. They also kept a diary for the first fourteen days to log every effort toward healthy meals. At least one person in each pair was overweight or obese and trying to improve their physical activity or diet. The results showed that bad sleep directly linked to a reduced ability to stick to healthy eating goals. People who slept poorly admitted making less effort to keep up good habits. Their partners reported lower confidence and less drive to maintain those same habits, even when they themselves slept well. Women generally reported healthier diets and better intentions than men did during the study period. Yet gender did not change how one partner's sleep influenced the other's food choices or behaviors. Professor Jean-Philippe Gouin from Concordia University in Montreal led this work as a psychologist there. He stated we must consider the social contexts where poor eating habits take place every single day. That involves asking exactly how a partner influences your own eating behaviour, whether intentionally or not. If we want to make long-lasting changes, both partners need to work together to change the home and food environment so that it is easier to maintain healthier habits over time.