Catch the Zzzzz's

In the UK around 1 in 3 adults regularly get less than 5 hours sleep a night. Along with poor performance at work, strained relationships and generally feeling rubbish not getting enough sleep has also been linked to weight gain.

A study by Ford compared people who slept and average of 7-9 hours a night with those who slept for shorter periods. The group who slept less on average were 3.4cm wider around their waist and weighed around 1.7kg more. The group who got less sleep were also more prone to central obesity which is linked to higher risk of obesity related illness such as heart disease.

Another study which supported these findings was done by Nishiura and Hashimoto. They found that BMI increased in groups who got less than 7-8 hours sleep. Those who slept 6 hours had a BMI 0.02 kg/m2 higher while those who slept just 5 hours had a BMI 0.07 kg/m2 higher. Interestingly they also found that sleeping more than 8 hours had a negative effect on weight with an increase in BMI of 0.06 kg/m2. This could be linked to the idea of more time spent sleeping means less time moving around using calories.

There is no direct link between less sleep and gaining weight and research is still ongoing, however there are a few theories as to why this happens.

Secret eaters aired a study which gives some idea of why sleep affects weight gain. 2 groups were asked to spend the night in a hotel. One group was left to sleep peacefully while the other group were woken up at 1 am and again at 4am. While awake they were asked to complete an IQ test to make sure there were properly awake. This took around 30 minutes and they were then able to go back to sleep. In the morning both groups woke up and completed a set of group tasks. After the tasks both groups were provided with the same snack pack. The group who had a bad night’s sleep ate 35% more than the group that had a good night’s sleep. They also preferred foods that were higher in fat and sugars. This is probably because they were over tied and their bodies were looking for a quick fix of energy (in the form of high fat and sugar foods).

So getting a good night’s sleep (at least 8 hours although there is no magic number) means you are more likely to eat less and go for healthier foods overall. Getting enough sleep makes sure you aren’t chasing energy through caffeine and sugar the next day. Keeping evening meals light can also lead to a better night’s sleep compared to going to bed too full. Leave time to wind down in the evenings and your waist line will thank you!

#sleep #weight #waistcircumference #bmi #health