Obesity May Up Odds Of Short Sleep

(WebMD)  The number on your bathroom scale may have a lot to do with how much shut-eye you get each night.

A new study in the journal Sleep upholds the widely accepted notion that body weight plays a large role in how well a person sleeps. Francesco P. Cappuccio, MD, of Warwick Medical School in England, and colleagues reviewed worldwide literature regarding obesity and short sleep duration in children and adults to determine if existing evidence supported a link between short sleepers and obesity.

The researchers' analysis showed a "striking, consistent" pattern of increased odds of being a short sleeper if you are obese regardless of age. According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, you are a short sleeper if you regularly sleep fewer hours than the average member of your age group. For this analysis, short sleep was defined as five hours or less for adults and less than 10 hours for children.

"The 60% to 80% increase in the odds of being a short sleeper amongst obese was seen in both children and adults," the researchers write in the journal article.

The study review included 634, 511 males and females ages 2 to 102 identified from studies around the world.

"This study is important as it confirms that this association is strong and might be of public health relevance. However, it also raises the unanswered question of whether this is a cause-effect association. Only prospective longitudinal studies will be able to address the outstanding question," Cappuccio says in a news release.

Though Cappuccio's team did not investigate the reasons for the connection between shortened sleep time and obesity, the study data involving the adults revealed a significant negative link between hours of sleep and body mass index (BMI). According to the researchers, some have suggested that short sleep may prompt hormonal changes that fuel appetite and caloric intake, leading to obesity.

In the past 30 years, the number of overweight children has more than doubled, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Approximately 61% of U.S. adults aged 20-74 are either overweight or obese. Carrying extra weight increases your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and obstructive sleep apnea , a sleep-related breathing disorder that causes your body to stop breathing during sleep.

Experts recommend 7-8 hours of sleep a night for adults. Recommendations for children vary with age, but in general, they need more than adults do.

Establishing a consistent and relaxing bedtime routine, avoiding caffeine, chocolate, and other stimulants, and removing TVs and computers from the bedroom are some tried-and-true ways of improving sleep. Keeping the room cool and dark and getting up the same time every day may also lead to better sleeping habits.
By Kelli Stacy
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved

[jdgrannie2]

Having had four pregnancies, I totally agree with this short sleep theory. I never could get comfortable whenever I went to bed at night, until after the babies were born and I lost the "baby" weight. Once they slept through the night, I was able to get my 7-8 hrs. That was sheer heaven! My granddaughter laughs at me when I toddle off to bed at 10 pm, but I''m the one who gets up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed the next day, not her. LOL

[kevsan1]

It is common sense that you need sleep. There is no doubt there. The discussion always seems to be how much. 7 1/2 - 8 1/2 is good for most adults. If you are stressed out, you need more. If you are a growing child you need more. They are just hedging and playing scientist... if they can not 100 percent prove something, they always hedge. Greeneyes, what you may be missing is your mother probably got that low sodium advice from her doctor. 99.99999 chance of that! I know, because I got the same advice. It''s horse hocky unless you are sodium sensitive and most people are not. I wouldn''t completely trust a doctor again. He prescribed the wrong stuff for me. I''ve been 100% better after getting off the *** and getting more sleep, exercise, drinking more water and paying attention to my diet.

[greeneyes222]

So which is cause, and which is effect?

The researchers are careful to state there were a lot of things they didn''t investigate. Yet here we go again, with a silly headline and more pop medicine based on what it "might" mean.

Would it be possible to hold off on these pop pronouncements until enough is known factually to draw a conclusion? My poor mother went through the whole "high sodium is bad/reduce it to nothing" craze because she had high blood pressure; problem was, reducing sodium didn''t help her because that wasn''t what was causing her problem. One size does not fit all, and it would be better for people to discuss this stuff with their doctors who know them and their history, than to start another pop craze.

I''m sorry, but this is just irresponsible. :(

[itgranny]

Maybe it''s the other way around. I just read another study the other day(perhaps even the same) that said there was a link between overweight children and sleep. I doubt that they hooked over 630,00 people up to sleep monitors. This study was probably little more than asking the question what time do you get to bed at night and what time do you get up.

Maybe the routines of watching tv or sitting at the computer until midnight everynight and then getting up at 5 or 6 for work the next day isn''t such a good thing. One thing that isn''t mentioned in all of their time studies is that cable tv also came into the picture in the 70''s followed by the computer in the mid ninety''s.

But then, if we look at it like that, think of all the potential commercials for fast food the american consumers would be missing.

[jshmks]

Smoke a blunt.

[ov442]

"Study Shows Your Weight Has A Lot To Do With How Much Shut-Eye You Get Each Night"

......of course it does. If youre uncomfortable all night, why would you get good sleep?
"..may have..."??
LOL - i''ve never even heard of or met an overweight person that slept well.

jeez, it takes a phd and government grants to study that?
retards.

IF theres a set of overweight people that are trying to live normal lives, that can claim to sleep well, THATS who they Ought to be studying and finding out why they arent sleepless and uncomfortable.