-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Sanjay R. Patel, Atul Malhotra, David P. White, Daniel J. Gottlieb, Frank B. Hu, Association between Reduced Sleep and Weight Gain in Women, American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 164, Issue 10, 15 November 2006, Pages 947–954, https://doi.org/10.1093/aje/kwj280
- Share Icon Share
Abstract
Physiologic studies suggest that sleep restriction has metabolic effects that predispose to weight gain. The authors investigated the association between self-reported usual sleep duration and subsequent weight gain in the Nurses' Health Study. The 68,183 women who reported habitual sleep duration in 1986 were followed for 16 years. In analyses adjusted for age and body mass index, women sleeping 5 hours or less gained 1.14 kg (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49, 1.79) more than did those sleeping 7 hours over 16 years, and women sleeping 6 hours gained 0.71 kg (95% CI: 0.41, 1.00) more. The relative risks of a 15-kg weight gain were 1.32 (95% CI: 1.19, 1.47) and 1.12 (95% CI: 1.06, 1.19) for those sleeping 5 and 6 hours, respectively. The relative risks for incident obesity (body mass index: >30 kg/m2) were 1.15 (95% CI: 1.04, 1.26) and 1.06 (95% CI: 1.01, 1.11). These associations remained significant after inclusion of important covariates and were not affected by adjustment for physical activity or dietary consumption. These data suggest that short sleep duration is associated with a modest increase in future weight gain and incident obesity. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which sleep duration may affect weight.