Does shorter sleep lead to weight gain?

Researchers examined the relationship between chronic mildly insufficient sleep and body weight.

In a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, the researchers assigned nearly 100 adult participants at risk of cardiometabolic disease who habitually achieved seven or more hours of sleep per night to either continue achieving adequate sleep or restrict their sleep by about 1.5 hours for a period of six weeks. They then conducted a pooled analysis of two randomized crossover trials to determine how mild sleep restriction impacted the participants’ adiposity, body weight, waist circumference and energy balance.

Compared with the participants who continued achieving adequate sleep, those who restricted their sleep experienced increases in their body weight, waist circumference and whole-body volume. In addition, those in the sleep restriction group presented with higher leptin levels and reported more sedentary time compared with those in the adequate sleep group.

The researchers concluded that prolonged sleep restriction could encourage elevations in body weight, potentially increasing the cardiometabolic risk. As a result, they emphasized the potential benefit of including sleep improvement approaches in strategies aimed at cardiometabolic disease prevention.

Read more: Annals of Internal Medicine

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