Diet Quality as a Determinant of Physical Activity, Sleep Patterns, and Quality of Life in Young Adults
Abstract
Background: This study aimed to examine the relationship between nutritional status assessed by the diet quality index with physical activity, sleep, and quality of life among young adults.Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional research utilized a sample of 700 university students enrolled in the 2021–2022 academic year at a private university's Faculty of Health Sciences in Istanbul, Türkiye. Data were collected using face-to-face interviews with Information Form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), World Health Organization Quality of Life-Short Form-Turkish Version (WHOQOL-BREF-TR) and 24-Hour Food Consumption Record. The dietary quality of the participants assessed via Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I).
Results: The study revealed inadequate diet quality among young adults, with a mean DQI-I score of 33.08±7.03. According to PSQI assessment, 85.3% of them had impoverished sleep quality, and according to IPAQ assessment, 23.3% of them were physically inactive. In comparing participants' characteristics with DQI-I, a positive correlation observed between age and both DQI-I-Total (P=0.017) and Variety sub-dimension (P=0.027). Furthermore, statistically significant differences identified between Moderation sub-dimension and economic situation (P=0.032), as well as between Variety sub-dimension and sleep duration (P=0.044). No statistically significant association found between diet quality and either sleep quality or physical activity levels (P>0.05). However, a significant relationship observed solely between Variety sub-dimension and social relationship sub-dimension of WHOQOL-BREF-TR (P=0.033).
Conclusion: This study observed a significant correlation between dietary diversity and quality of life, whereas no significant correlation observed between diet quality and sleep quality, physical activity level, or quality of life.
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14. Werneck AO, Silva DR, Malta DC, et al (2021). Associations of sedentary behav-iours and incidence of unhealthy diet during the COVID-19 quarantine in Brazil. Public Health Nutr, 24(3):422-26.
15. Ozcan B, Acimis, NM (2021). Sleep Quality in Pamukkale University Students and its relationship with smartphone addiction. Pak J Med Sci, 37(1):206-211.
16. Timurtas E, Avci EE, Ayberk B, et al (2022). Investigation of physical activity, de-pression, stress, sleep and quality of life levels of university students during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Occupa-tional Therapy and Rehabilitation, 10(1):17-26.
17. López-Valenciano A, Suárez-Iglesias D, Sanchez-Lastra MA, et al (2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on university students' physical activity levels: an early systematic review. Front Psychol, 11:624567.
18. Khani-Juyabad S, Setayesh L, Tangestani H, et al (2021). Adherence to Lifelines Diet Score (LLDS) is associated with better sleep quality in overweight and obese women. Eat Weight Disord, 26:1639-46.
19. Jansen EC, Prather A, Leung CW (2020). As-sociations between sleep duration and dietary quality: Results from a national-ly-representative survey of US adults. Appetite, 153: 104748.
20. Bagcilar S, Mutlu AA, Kabaran S (2019). De-termination of sleep quality, duration and nutritional status of adult individu-als living in Northern Cyprus. Int Peer-Rev J Nutr Res, 6(15):25-47.
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22. Moreno-Gómez C, Romaguera-Bosch D, Tauler-Riera P, et al (2012). Clustering of lifestyle factors in Spanish university students: The relationship between smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet quality. Public Health Nutr, 15(11);2131-9.
23. Merhout FMA, Doyle JMA (2019). Socioec-onomic status and diet quality in college students. J Nutr Educ Behav, 51(9):1107–12.
24. Kosendiak A, Stanikowski P, Domagała D, et al (2022). Dietary habits, diet quality, nutrition knowledge, and associations with physical activity in Polish prison-ers: A pilot study. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(3):1422.
25. Milte CM, Thorpe MG, Crawford D, et al (2015). Associations of diet quality with health-related quality of life in Australi-an men and women. Exp Gerontol, 64:8-16.
26. Acik M, Cakiroglu FP (2020). The effect of visceral adipocyte measurements and dietary quality on quality of life in obese ındividuals according to metabolic health status. General Medical Journal, 30(3):167-77.
27. Hadidi M, Sajadi-Hezaveh Z, Tanha K, et al (2021). Relationship between diet quality and quality of life among overweight and obese women. J Nutr Food Secur, 6(2):137-45.
28. Ford DW, Jensen GL, Hartman TJ, et al (2013). Association between dietary qual-ity and mortality in older adults: a re-view of the epidemiological evidence. J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr, 32(2):85-105.
29. Wu XY, Zhuang LH, Li W, et al (2019). The influence of diet quality and dietary be-havior on health-related quality of life in the general population of children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Qual Life Res, 28(8):1989-2015.
30. Alkerwi AA, Vernier C, Crichton GE, et al (2015). Cross-comparison of diet quality indices for predicting chronic disease risk: findings from the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxem-bourg (ORISCAV-LUX) study. Br J Nutr, 113(2):259-69.
2. Ford DW, Hartman TJ, Still C, et al (2014). Body mass index, poor diet quality, and health-related quality of life are associ-ated with mortality in rural older adults. J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr, 33(1):23-34.
3. World Health Organization. (2018). Non-communicable Diseases.
4. Rus VA (2019). The role of healthy diet and lifestyle in preventing chronic diseases. J Interdiscip Med, 4(2):57-8.
5. Nogueira PS, Ferreira MG, Rodrigues PRM, et al (2018). Longitudinal study on the lifestyle and health of university stu-dents (eleseu): Design, methodological procedures, and preliminary results. Cad Saude Publica, 34(4):e00145917.
6. Chaput JP, Dutil C (2016). Lack of sleep as a contributor to obesity in adolescents: Impacts on eating and activity behav-iors. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act, 13:103.
7. Bayán-Bravo A, Pérez-Tasigchana RF, Sayón-Orea C, et al (2017). Combined impact of traditional and non-traditional healthy behaviors on health-related quality of life: a prospective study in older adults. PLoS One, 12(1):e0170513.
8. Agargun MY (1996). Validity and reliability of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Turk Psikiyatri Derg, 7(2):107-15.
9. Saglam M, Arikan H, Savci S, et al (2010). International physical activity question-naire: reliability and validity of the Turkish version. Percept Mot Skills, 111(1):278–84.
10. Eser E, Fidaner H, Fidaner C (1999). Psy-chometric properties of WHOQOL-100 and WHOQOL-BREEF. 3P Journal, 7(Suppl 2):23-40.
11. Kim S, Haines PS, Siega-Riz AM, et al (2003). The Diet Quality Index-International (DQI-I) provides an effec-tive tool for cross-national comparison of diet quality as illustrated by China and the United States. J Nutr, 133(11):3476-3484.
12. Durmaz C, Gezer C (2021). Diet and life quality of female students studying at health sciences faculty: Comparison of departments. 12th Eurasion Conference on Language & Social Science, June 18-19. Proceedings Book, Ekaterinburg, Russia. P:462-9.
13. De Miguel-Etayo P, Moreno LA, Santa-bárbara J, et al (2019). Diet quality index as a predictor of treatment efficacy in overweight and obese adolescents: The EVASYON study. Clin Nutr, 38(2):782-90.
14. Werneck AO, Silva DR, Malta DC, et al (2021). Associations of sedentary behav-iours and incidence of unhealthy diet during the COVID-19 quarantine in Brazil. Public Health Nutr, 24(3):422-26.
15. Ozcan B, Acimis, NM (2021). Sleep Quality in Pamukkale University Students and its relationship with smartphone addiction. Pak J Med Sci, 37(1):206-211.
16. Timurtas E, Avci EE, Ayberk B, et al (2022). Investigation of physical activity, de-pression, stress, sleep and quality of life levels of university students during COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Occupa-tional Therapy and Rehabilitation, 10(1):17-26.
17. López-Valenciano A, Suárez-Iglesias D, Sanchez-Lastra MA, et al (2021). Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on university students' physical activity levels: an early systematic review. Front Psychol, 11:624567.
18. Khani-Juyabad S, Setayesh L, Tangestani H, et al (2021). Adherence to Lifelines Diet Score (LLDS) is associated with better sleep quality in overweight and obese women. Eat Weight Disord, 26:1639-46.
19. Jansen EC, Prather A, Leung CW (2020). As-sociations between sleep duration and dietary quality: Results from a national-ly-representative survey of US adults. Appetite, 153: 104748.
20. Bagcilar S, Mutlu AA, Kabaran S (2019). De-termination of sleep quality, duration and nutritional status of adult individu-als living in Northern Cyprus. Int Peer-Rev J Nutr Res, 6(15):25-47.
21. Doo M, Kim Y (2017). The risk of being obese according to short sleep duration is modulated after menopause in Kore-an women. Nutrients, 9(3):206.
22. Moreno-Gómez C, Romaguera-Bosch D, Tauler-Riera P, et al (2012). Clustering of lifestyle factors in Spanish university students: The relationship between smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and diet quality. Public Health Nutr, 15(11);2131-9.
23. Merhout FMA, Doyle JMA (2019). Socioec-onomic status and diet quality in college students. J Nutr Educ Behav, 51(9):1107–12.
24. Kosendiak A, Stanikowski P, Domagała D, et al (2022). Dietary habits, diet quality, nutrition knowledge, and associations with physical activity in Polish prison-ers: A pilot study. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 19(3):1422.
25. Milte CM, Thorpe MG, Crawford D, et al (2015). Associations of diet quality with health-related quality of life in Australi-an men and women. Exp Gerontol, 64:8-16.
26. Acik M, Cakiroglu FP (2020). The effect of visceral adipocyte measurements and dietary quality on quality of life in obese ındividuals according to metabolic health status. General Medical Journal, 30(3):167-77.
27. Hadidi M, Sajadi-Hezaveh Z, Tanha K, et al (2021). Relationship between diet quality and quality of life among overweight and obese women. J Nutr Food Secur, 6(2):137-45.
28. Ford DW, Jensen GL, Hartman TJ, et al (2013). Association between dietary qual-ity and mortality in older adults: a re-view of the epidemiological evidence. J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr, 32(2):85-105.
29. Wu XY, Zhuang LH, Li W, et al (2019). The influence of diet quality and dietary be-havior on health-related quality of life in the general population of children and adolescents: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Qual Life Res, 28(8):1989-2015.
30. Alkerwi AA, Vernier C, Crichton GE, et al (2015). Cross-comparison of diet quality indices for predicting chronic disease risk: findings from the Observation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Luxem-bourg (ORISCAV-LUX) study. Br J Nutr, 113(2):259-69.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 54 No 9 (2025) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v54i9.19862 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Nutrition Dietary pattern Physical activity Sleep quality Quality of life | ||
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How to Cite
1.
Hamurcu P. Diet Quality as a Determinant of Physical Activity, Sleep Patterns, and Quality of Life in Young Adults. Iran J Public Health. 2025;54(9):1954-1964.
