Even Mild Sleep Deprivation May Lead to Weight Gain - WIRED

What the report says

Wired reported that a recent Columbia University Vagelos School of Medicine study found chronic, modest sleep loss may contribute to weight gain, adding to evidence that sleep habits can affect risks tied to obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. The article said earlier research often tested extreme sleep restriction, such as about four hours a night, leaving less clarity about the effects of more common patterns like sleeping five to six hours.

According to Wired, Marie-Pierre St-Onge, a Columbia professor specializing in nutritional medicine, and colleagues studied 95 adults who normally slept at least seven hours and had cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors. Participants delayed bedtime by 90 minutes for six weeks while wearing monitors that tracked sleep and activity; during another six-week period, they kept their usual sleep schedule. Researchers also assessed weight, waist size, body composition and fasting blood markers linked to appetite.

The study found that when participants slept roughly 80 minutes less, their average weight was about 0.45 kilograms, or around one pound, higher than during the normal-sleep period. Wired also reported that sedentary time increased by 17 minutes a day overall, and by nearly 30 minutes among men and postmenopausal women. Leptin, a hormone associated with appetite suppression, rose during sleep restriction, suggesting the findings did not match a simple hormonal-overeating explanation from more severe sleep-loss studies.

Wired placed the work alongside related studies in some of the same participants, including findings on insulin resistance in women and inflammatory activity in immune cells. The article said more research is needed to determine mechanisms and whether increasing sleep helps chronically sleep-deprived people improve weight and metabolic health.