Lack of sleep linked to teen weight gain

Honolulu, HI, United States (AHN) – Teens looking to lose weight may want to examine how much sleep they’re getting each night.

Researchers with the Baylor College of Medicine Sleep Center in Houston, TX, said that sleeping less than eight hours a night may be linked with weight gain in teens. Also, obesity was linked to short sleep duration in teen males, with the fewest hours slept linked to the highest body mass index levels.

The researchers surveyed 255 teens – 108 males and 147 females – to obtain self-reported measures of height and weight. They were asked about weekday and weekend sleep quantity. The average sleep time for males was 6 hours 32 minutes on weekdays and 9 hours and 10 minutes on the weekend.

For girls, it was 6 hours 30 minutes during the week and 9 hours 22 minutes on the weekends.

Teen males who slept 7 hours or less on weekdays had an average BMI that was 3.8 percent higher than those who slept longer than 7 hours. Similarly, teenage girls who slept 7 hours or less had an average BMI that was 4.7 percent higher than females who got more than 7 hours a night.

The findings were presented this week during the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Honolulu, HI.

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