Abstract





             Dietary intake and exercise are related to sleep patterns.  Research has reported that exercise prior to bedtime will assist in the decrease of sleep onset latency (SOL). Food composed of high fat and carbohydrate has also been cited for a decrease in SOL.  This study hypothesizes that those who intake high carbohydrate and fat foods will report being sleepier than those who don’t consume such nutrition. Exercise is also hypothesized to decrease SOL. This study involves 28 undergraduate football players who report their sleep state on the Epworth sleepiness scale, partake in a sleep onset latency test, and finally, document their diet and exercise in the last 5 hours.  There was no significant correlation among fat intake, carbohydrate consumption, exercise intensity, and SOL.  SOL appeared to be lower in athletes compared to the college population.