How Does Sleep Affect Your Weight?

Exercise, healthy eating and a good night’s sleep are 3 highly important factors for a healthy life. Although we are bombarded on almost a daily basis about the importance of exercise and healthy eating, relatively little attention is paid to the realm of sleep.

Sleep deprivation and childhood obesity

With that in mind however, there is an increasing body of evidence gathered by scientists around the world, that sleep also has a great influence on your body weight, not only as an adult but also as a child.

According to Harvard School of Public Health:

  • Dozens of studies spanning 5 continents have looked at the link between sleep duration and obesity in children.
  • “Most (but not all) have found a convincing association between too little sleep and increased weight.”

In fact, one study which took place here in the UK followed 8,000 children from birth and found that those who slept for fewer than 10.5 hours at the age of 3, actually had a 45% higher risk of obesity by the age of 7, compared those who slept for more than 12 hours.

However, researchers have gone a step further and actually recorded the sleeping patterns of people right up until the age of 32 in New Zealand.

Following no less than 1,037 children, the researchers found that each 1-hour reduction in sleep time during childhood (monitored at the ages of 5, 7, 9 and 11), raised the risk of obesity at the age of 32 by 50%.

It is important to realise, however, that these are mere associations and not definitive conclusions to the risk of childhood obesity and sleep.

 

So, does sleep affect adult obesity?

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, adult studies have also found a close link between sleep and obesity. Quite possibly the largest study ever conducted was in the sleep habits and weights of 68,000 middle-aged women; a study that followed them for up to 16 years. deprivation and obesity.

Known as the Nurses’ Health Study, the investigation found that women who slept for five hours or less were 15% more likely to become obese than those who slept for 7 hours a night.More worryingly perhaps, another study conducted from 1986 through to 1996 found that diabetes was another condition which could actually be affected by sleep.

According to the closing pages of the conclusion:

  • Our data suggest that short self-reported sleep duration is associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with diabetes.”
  • “This association persists even after adjustment for age, smoking, hypertension, and other risk factors.”

 

But how exactly does sleep deprivation affect a person’s weight?

There are, of course, many reasons cited on how sleep loss can affect someone’s weight:

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  • Interestingly, sleep deprivation may actually alter hormone levels associated with hunger. One study even found that during sleep deprivation, appetite-stimulating hormones are heightened while at the same time; satiety-inducing hormones become reduced.• Another theory is that people who sleep less simply have more time on their hands to eat, and studies have shown that if food is available, those who sleep less will consume more of it.
  • Other studies have also found that those who sleep more, are actually more inclined to eat healthier than those who do not.
  • One of the main attributes, however, is the fact that those who sleep less, tend to have less energy for exercise, so in effect, they would actually be less likely to do so, heightening the chances of an increased weight.

 

So what to do?

At the end of the day, an overwhelming amount of evidence suggests that there is a probably a sure and distinct link between sleep deprivation and obesity.

It is suggested, therefore, that people take great steps to ensure that they have the right amount of sleep (often between 6 and a half hours through to 9), whether that involves a lower intake of caffeine, a healthier diet or an increased amount of exercise.

Even small changes such as turning the television off a little earlier, or banning the use of mobile phones before bedtime, can be enough to make sure that your brain receives the right amount of light exposure just before sleep.