Less Sleep Means More Pounds For Teens
Reported May 05, 2010
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — Adolescents who don’t get enough sleep may gain more than extra time to play video games or text their friends. They also may gain weight.
In research led by Leslie A. Lytle, Ph.D., from the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, investigators collected data on 723 adolescents (mean age 14.7 years) about how long they slept on weeknights and weekends, and how frequently they experienced sleep problems. Researchers also asked the youths about the foods and beverages they had had the previous day to determine how many calories they consumed.
For seven days, participants wore accelerometers on their belts to measure movement. The wearers could not see any data on how active they were. Researchers also measured participants’ weight, body mass index (BMI) and percentage of body fat.
“The use of accelerometers and 24-hour (dietary) recalls was unique in the study of sleep and weight in youth and is a real strength of the study,” Dr. Lytle was quoted as saying.
Results showed that shorter sleep duration was related to higher BMI. The relationship was especially strong for boys and for middle school students. In girls, less sleep only on weekends was related to higher BMI.
“Sleep has long been recognized as an important health behavior,” Dr. Lytle said. “We are just beginning to recognize its relationship to overweight and obesity in children and adults alike.”
SOURCE: Presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. May 4, 2010