A new study shows that not sleeping enough might increase the waist measurements. Experts found that sleeping an average of six hours a night adds up to three centimeters to the waistline.
Researchers from the University of Leeds in West Yorkshire, England concluded that adults who have bad sleeping patterns are prone to be obese and to have other metabolic issues. They recommend people to sleep at least 7 hours to reduce the chances of getting fatter.
“How much sleep we need differs between people, but the current consensus is that seven to nine hours is best for most adults,” said Dr. Laura Haride, lead researcher, via the University of Leeds. “Because we found that adults who reported sleeping less than their peers were more likely to be overweight or obese, our findings highlight the importance of getting enough sleep,” added Dr, Hardie
Why people should sleep more than 6 hours
Sleeping is essential for people to function properly during the day. However, work, stress, and other situations might lead to the development of bad sleeping patterns that affect our health and our organism in different ways. According to a recently published study conducted by the University of Leeds in England, consistently missing out on a full night’s sleep leads to obesity. Researchers say that sleeping an average of six hours adds 3 centimeters to our waist measurements.
To get to these results, researchers studied more than 1,600 adults’ sleeping and eating patterns. Their ages ranged between 19 and 65 years, none of the participants were pregnant. 448 were between 19 and 34 years, 655 were aged 35 to 50, and 512 were aged 51 to 65. They all lived in private households in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. They distributed diet diaries for four consecutive days of diet recording. The participants were interviewed to get other data.
To analyze the data and relate it to the sleep patterns, they took into consideration energy and macronutrient intake, quality of their diets, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood measures – such as cholesterol, triglycerides, free T3 – and the metabolic syndrome score. Researchers adjusted the models depending on the age, sex, smoking habits and socioeconomic status. Researchers took into consideration that not all participants were willing to give their blood data, of which only 51 percent of participants did.
Participants were asked the following two questions about their sleep patterns: “How long (do you) usually sleep on week nights?” and “How long (do you) usually sleep on weekend nights?”. There were no questions regarding naps.
Researchers recommend people to sleep 7 to 9 hours on average every night to avoid obesity and other health problems.
“The number of people with obesity worldwide has more than doubled since 1980,” said Greg Potter, a researcher on the study. “Obesity contributes to the development of many diseases, most notably type 2 diabetes. Understanding why people gain weight has crucial implications for public health.”.
The results were published in the journal PLoS ONE
Source: PLoS ONE