An additional hour of sleep reduce the risk of becoming obese by 30% according to study from Italy

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011 12:37 pm Email this article
An additional hour of sleep reduced the risk of become obese by 30 percent during a 6-year follow-up according to study from researchers at the the University of Turin in Turin, Italy. Sleep Duration

Sleep duration: Those who became obese slept 6.3 hours vs 7.2 hours for those who did not

People who became obese during the 6-year follow-up slept an average of 6.3 hours per night compared to 7.2 hours per night for people who did not become obese.

 

Research on Sleep

Research on Sleep and Obesity

“Sleep duration has declined from 8 to 9 [ hours ] per night to 7 [ hours ] or less per night in the last 50 years, largely as a consequence of voluntary sleep restriction (watching television, using the internet and getting more work done and so on),” the paper notes.

“Sleep debt is associated with decreased rates of glucose clearance, insulin response and glucose effectiveness, increased sympathetic nervous system activity and impaired glucose regulation by reduced lipolytic effects [ the release of fat from fat cells ].”

“During sleep restriction, plasma leptin levels are decreased, whereas ghrelin, cortisol and orexin secretion is increased.”

[ Leptin is a hormone released by fat cells that reduces appetite. ]
[ Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite. ]
[ Orexin increases the craving for food. ]
[ Cortisol may be involved in increasing appetite. ]

“Thus, the link between sleep debt and hormones implicated in feeding regulation explains the observed increase in appetite and food intake, particularly for energy-dense, high-carbohydrate foods.”

“This finding and the observed decrease in daytime physical activity after sleep loss may contribute to the documented increased risk of obesity,” the paper continues.

“However, these associations have been criticized because the epidemiological evidence is weak and the risk seems very small, and develops over many years in very short sleepers (around [ 5 hours ]).”

“The relationships between sleep duration and incident diabetes are contrasting, as large United States epidemiological studies have found associations between both short and long sleep duration and diabetes.”

“Associations have been found to be significant only in a subset of diabetic patients with severe symptoms, and not for short sleepers after adjusting for BMI in men, but not in women, and other studies failed to find any association.”

“On the other hand, a growing number of epidemiological studies and meta-analyses have provided evidence of an association between short-duration sleep and the risk of obesity, as reviewed.”

“In accordance with the literature, in our cohort, sleep restriction was associated with obesity at follow-up, but not with incident hyperglycemia at follow-up.”

 

Subjects

Subjects: 1282 people

The study followed 1282 Caucasian people, aged 45–64 years, who were not obese at the start of the study, for 6 years to try and determine factors that were associated with an increased risk of obesity.

After 6 years, 103 had become obese, and 1179 had not.

 

Conclusion

Conclusion: Sleep restriction, higher home temperature and restaurant meals were associated with increased risk of obesity

“Sleep restriction, higher home temperature and regular consumption of [ restaurant meals ] might represent lifestyle contributors to the obesity and hyperglycemia epidemics,” the paper concluded. “Avoiding these behaviors could be a potential adjunctive non-pharmacological strategy for preventing the obesity and hyperglycemia epidemics.”

REFERENCE

Bo S, Ciccone G, Durazzo M, Ghinamo L, Villois P, Canil S, Gambino R, Cassader M, Gentile L, Cavallo-Perin P. Contributors to the obesity and hyperglycemia epidemics. A prospective study in a population-based cohort. Int J Obes (Lond). 2011 Feb 1, published on-line.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Dr. S Bo
Department of Internal Medicine
University of Turin
Corso Dogliotti 14
Turin 10126, Italy
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