Am J Epidemiol.2006 Aug 16; [Epub ahead of print]
Patel SR, Malhotra A, White DP et al.
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 more than did those sleeping 7 hours over 16 years. Their risk of a 15-kg weight gain was increased by 32%. Women sleeping 6 hours gained 0.71 kg more and their risk of a 15-kg gain increased by 12%.
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.
