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More sleep linked to lower BMI

Shorter durations of sleep were linked to higher BMIs and poorer metabolic health, according to findings recently published in PLOS One.

“Findings from an analysis of about 250,000 sleep questionnaires worldwide suggest that sleep duration on workdays has declined by about 37 minutes in the last decade,” Gregory D.M. Potter, BSc, MSc, of the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, England, and colleagues wrote. “We ... used data from years 1 through 4 of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey Rolling Programme to determine whether sleep duration was associated with diet, adiposity, glucose and lipid metabolism, metabolic syndrome criteria, function, and inflammation in U.K. adults.”

Researchers analyzed data from 1,615 adults aged between 19 and 65 years. These participants had their waist circumference and BP recorded, provided 3 or 4 days of food diaries, and answered queries about length of time slept. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, HbA1c and fasting blood lipids were noted in a subset of the group.

By using regression analyses, Potter and colleagues found that sleep duration was negatively associated with waist circumference (–0.9 cm per hour; 95% CI, –1.5 to –0.3 cm) and BMI (–0.46 kg/m² per hour; 95% CI, –0.69 to –0.24 kg/m²), but positively connected with HDL cholesterol (0.03 mmol/L per hour; 95% CI, 0-0.05). The amount of time slept tended to be positively connected with free thyroxine levels and negatively associated with HbA1c and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (P = 0.09 to 0.1) but not connected to dietary measures (P = 0.14).

According to researchers, the data reflect adjustments for socioeconomic and smoking status, as well as sex, race and age.

“We are the first to concurrently report on associations between sleep duration and nutrient intakes, and sleep duration and objective measures of metabolic health in U.K. adults, to our knowledge,” Potter and colleagues wrote. “Our findings support the accumulating evidence showing an important contribution of short sleep to metabolic diseases such as obesity.”

“How much sleep we need differs between people, but the current consensus is that 7 to 9 hours is best for most adults,” Laura J. Hardie, BSc, PhD, of the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds, England, said in a press release. - by Janel Miller

Disclosure: Healio Family Medicine was unable to determine researchers’ relevant financial disclosures prior to publication.