Sleep Behaviors Influence Weight Gain

Poor sleeping habits are associated with an increased risk of weight gain and obesity. Short sleepers (< 7 hours/night) and long sleepers (> 9 hours/night) are more likely to be obese. Other sleep characteristics associated with obesity include daytime napping, working night shifts, poor sleep quality and evening chronotype (being a “night person”). Individuals who tend to stay up late at night, and sleep during the morning hours, are more likely to have poor eating habits, engage in late-night snacking, have sleep apnea and higher levels of stress hormones. Night owls are also more likely to develop diabetes and metabolic conditions.

A study in the April 2017 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition evaluated sleep patterns in those with a genetic risk for obesity. Among individuals at risk for obesity, short sleepers and long sleepers had a greater body mass than normal sleepers, those who sleep between seven and nine hours per night. Sleep duration was not significantly associated with body weight in individuals with a low genetic risk for obesity. Sleep behaviors are more likely to affect individuals who are at risk for obesity based on their genes.

This study sheds light on the interactions between our genes and our lifestyle. Sleeping behaviors influence our genes, and those at risk of obesity may be able to moderate weight gain by changing their sleeping habits.

References

1. Celis-Morales C, et al. Sleep characteristics modify the association of genetic predisposition with obesity and anthropometric measurements in 119,679 UK Biobank participants. Am J Clin Nutr April 2017. vol. 105 no. 4 980-990. http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/105/4/980.full
   
2. Yu JH, et al. Evening chronotype is associated with metabolic disorders and body composition in middle-aged adults. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2015 Apr;100(4):1494-502. doi: https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2014-3754. Epub 2015 Apr 1.
3. Buxton OM, Marcelli E.. Short and long sleep are positively associated with obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease among adults in the United States. Soc Sci Med. 2010 Sep;71(5):1027-36. doi:  http://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2010.05.041. Epub 2010 Jun 16.
   
4. Image by Christine Dobrowolski using Man Sleeping on a Couch by addon on OpenClipArt, CC0 1.0.