Less time in bed for teenagers ''leads to obesity''
07/09/2010
Teenagers who spend less than eight hours in bed each night during the week are more likely to eat fatty foods and snacks than peers who have over eight hours of sleep a night, new research has revealed.
While the sleep/weight trend is one that has been observed by a number of agencies over the last few years, it was the new study by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston that attributed the situation to a more calorific intake.
A lack of sleep results in major changes to a diet and can increase the risk of obesity, as it is more likely to happen routinely, scientists claimed, being particularly problematic for girls.
Dr. Susan Redline, who led the study, concluded: "The relative increase in fat consumption among shorter sleepers by 2.2 per cent per day chronically may contribute to cumulative increases in energy consumption that would be expected to increase risk for obesity and cardiovascular disease."
This week, it was claimed by Penn State College of Medicine that men with chronic insomnia were four times more likely to die than those with regular sleep patterns.
Posted by Elizabeth Mewes
