Insufficient sleep (short sleep duration and poor sleep quality) is associated with obesity risk. Emerging adults (ages 18-28 years) have a greater risk of excess weight gain and insufficient sleep, and these risks are higher in Black individuals. Using a measurement burst design, we assessed associations between sleep with energy balance components and obesity marker changes over 6 months in 15 Black emerging adults (12 females; age: 21 ± 2.5 years; body mass index: 25.7 ± 4.5 kg/m2; body fat: 25.8 ± 11.9%). Since our sample was predominantly female (80%), we repeated our analyses for females only. Participants completed the following measurements at baseline (BLN) and 6 months later (6MO): 7 days of actigraphy-based sleep and physical activity energy expenditure (EE) and 2 nights of in-home polysomnography-based sleep; resting EE and thermic effect of food with indirect calorimetry; ad libitum energy intake (EI) via self-reported methods over 4 days and directly measured over 3 days with provided meals. Body weight (2.6 kg, p = 0.01) and waist circumference (2.4 cm, p = 0.03) increased from BLN to 6MO. Changes in actigraphy-based sleep duration were associated with changes in body weight (β = 0.03, standard error (SE) = 0.02, p = 0.04) and fat mass (β = 0.07, SE = 0.03 p = 0.03) in females only. Greater rapid eye movement sleep duration was associated with increases in resting EE (β = 2.24, SE = 0.84, p = 0.02). Greater slow-wave sleep was associated with increases in self-reported EI (β = 18.34, SE = 4.7, p < 0.01). Sleep may impact components of energy balance and risk of weight gain in Black emerging adults. Additional research is needed to confirm our pilot findings.
Keywords: body composition; emerging adulthood; energy balance; obesity; sleep architecture; sleep duration.