Association of carbonated soft drink and fast food intake with stress-related sleep disturbance among adolescents: A global perspective from 64 countries

Background Poor quality sleep adversely impacts on adolescent wellbeing. More multinational research is needed to understand modifiable risk factors, such as dietary behaviours. This study aimed to examine the association of carbonated soft drink and fast food intake with stress-related sleep disturbance among adolescents across 64 countries. Methods We analysed the Global School-based Student Health Survey data from 175,261 adolescents (mean age 13.8 [0.98]; 48.5% females). Adolescents reported frequency of stress-related sleep disturbance and consumption of carbonated soft drinks and fast foods. Country-level estimates were obtained by using multivariable logistic regression and meta-analysis to obtain pooled estimates. Findings Overall, 7.5% of adolescents reported sleep disturbance during the past 12 months (males: 6.6%; females: 8.4%). Meta-analysis showed that adolescents having carbonated soft drinks ≥3 times/day had over 50% higher odds of reporting sleep disturbance than Interpretation Our findings suggest strong positive associations between carbonated soft drink and fast food intake with stress-related sleep disturbance. Prospective studies are needed to understand the directionality of the relationship.