She studied the sleep and diet of 21 healthy undergraduates -- 12 men and nine women -- for seven days. She said the differences between the those eating at home and those who ate more in restaurants reached statistical significance (P<.05) on days two, four, and seven, and trended towards significance on the other days in the study.

"There are commuting students so they are either preparing meals at home or are eating meals that are prepared by their parents," Dr. Engle-Friedman said. "We have found that meals prepared at home are healthier than those in restaurants -- the home-cooked meals have less, fat and have less salt, generally. We have recorded the foods that the students ate during this study and we are analyzing that data now."

She said insomniacs or those who have problems awakening or have reduced sleep times tend to put less effort into their activities of daily living. "They take the easier way out, and when that comes to eating, it is easier to stop into a fast food restaurant than to prepare a meal oneself or wait for it to be ready. By not putting enough effort into preparing their food they are having a negative impact on their nutrition."

Dr. Engle-Friedman noted previous epidemiological studies that suggested dining out at restaurants -- especially fast food restaurants -- has been associated with a 10-pound weight gain over 15 years, and that sleep loss is also associated with insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes.

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