A recent study indicates that common foods consumed by toddlers and preschoolers—such as nuggets, fries, and baked snacks—may negatively impact their sleep. Researchers from Türkiye found that children with higher intake of dietary advanced glycation end products (AGEs), compounds formed during high-temperature cooking, were significantly more likely to experience sleep disturbances. The study was published in BMC Pediatrics and suggests a possible connection between ultra-processed diets and children's sleep quality.
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Advanced glycation end products, or AGEs, are formed in the body when sugars react with proteins or fats, a process called glycation. They also enter the diet through foods that are grilled, fried, roasted, or baked. These compounds have been associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress in adults. The receptor for AGEs (RAGE) activates inflammatory pathways, and prior studies have suggested that high dietary AGE intake may influence sleep quality via inflammatory and metabolic mechanisms.
Despite extensive research on AGEs in adults, little is known about their effects on young children, whose developing nervous systems might be particularly sensitive. To investigate this, a team of nutrition researchers—Gökçen Doğan, Büşra Demirer, and Nurcan Yabanci Ayhan—conducted a study involving 304 children aged three to five. The study, registered as NCT07062640, received ethical approval and collected detailed dietary and sleep data from parents via questionnaires.
The Sleep Disorders Scale for Children (SDSC) was used to assess sleep issues. The results showed that 67.4 percent of children had sleep disorders. Notably, children with sleep problems had a higher average dietary AGE intake of 6.22 ± 1.88 kilounits per kilocalorie (kU/kcal) compared to 4.79 ± 1.32 kU/kcal for those without sleep issues, a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001).
Further analysis adjusted for factors such as age, sex, and body mass index revealed that higher dietary AGE intake remained independently linked to sleep disturbances, with each increase in intake correlating to 1.76 times higher odds of experiencing sleep issues (odds ratio 1.763; 95 percent confidence interval 1.418–2.117; p < 0.001).
The study's authors propose various mechanisms by which dietary AGEs could disrupt sleep, including promotion of inflammation and oxidative stress, which have been linked to sleep regulation. They emphasize that while the findings highlight a potential dietary factor affecting sleep health, the cross-sectional nature of the study means it cannot determine causality.
The researchers stress the need for longitudinal and intervention studies to further explore this association. Despite the limitations, the study's timing coincides with growing concerns among parents and healthcare providers about sleep quality in young children and the prevalence of heat-processed foods in their diets.
If future research corroborates this link between dietary AGEs and sleep disturbances, modifying cooking methods may offer a simple solution to improve children's sleep. The study, published on October 8, 2026, provides a measurable hypothesis that warrants further investigation into the role of diet in sleep health for preschool children. However, it does not recommend immediate dietary changes and simply suggests that dietary assessments may be valuable in evaluations of sleep issues.