Obesity may be linked to sleeping times

[TechBear_Seattle]

Obesity may be linked to sleeping times

...

Writing in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, Taheri said there was increasing evidence that shortened sleeping times result in metabolic changes that may contribute to obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and heart disease.

A UK study published last year indicated that insufficient sleep in infants aged 30 months was associated with obesity by the time they reached the age of seven.

Taheri said this suggested that sleep loss at a young age may alter the body's mechanisms that regulate appetite and energy expenditure.

Limited sleep is also a problem for teenagers, whose need for sleep increases during the critical years of adolescent development.

Other research, published by Taheri in 2004, found that adults sleeping only five hours had almost 15 percent higher levels of ghrelin -- a hormone released by the stomach to signal hunger -- than those managing eight hours.

The full article can be found at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061019/ts_nm/obesity_sleep_dc

[truthisfreedom]

1. all the more reason to go back to sleep. *yawn*

'nite!

[waiting for hope]

2. We all need more sleep -

I have two kids, work full time and a husband who snores......I'm lucky if I can get six hours. Is there a study that compares this to those in Europe? Doesn't Germany have a more relaxed work ethic? It would be interesting to see.

[babylonsister]

3. Good to know genetics and food intake have nothing

to do with it. I'm relieved.

[TechBear_Seattle]

4. Where do you get that?

The relationship between lack of sleep and obesity -- postulated for many years and now established -- has nothing to do with other unrelated causes of obesity. Your statement is kind of like complaining that a study showing a genetic link to obesity must mean it's fine to eat nothing but bacon double cheese burgers.

[babylonsister]

5. I am not a scientist obviously, but

I guess I'm a skeptic. For every overweight person who has problems sleeping, I'm sure there are slim people who could pace all night.
There are so many distractors, too. Is menopause taken into consideration? Older women are also known to pack on a few more pounds than in their youth, and the ones I talk to have trouble sleeping. :shrug:
I guess I should have kept my thoughts to myself.

[Igel]

6. That's what controlled studies are for.

The goal is to identify factors that are involved, and the percentage probability that each factor leads or contributes to the effect. Even then the results are statistical; for every person that tends to obesity as a result of lack of sleep there are people that experience no such affect.

This seems to be valid research; but it's only one factor in many and doesn't hold for everybody.

[semillama]

7. well, maybe think a little more before you post

about what you are saying. You shouldn't keep your thoughts to yourself, but there's no reason not to examine more closely what you are saying before you say it. After all, you get to preview your message before you post it.

This study is not saying there is a one-to-one correlation between length of sleep sessions and obesity. It is simply saying that that it seems to be one factor that influences obesity. There are many different factors that lead to obesity, just as there are many factors that influence the metabolisms of those people who never gain weight.

Personally, I can see why the body might begin to store more fat when sleep sessions fall below 7 hours or so a night - it might be a signal to the body that times are stressful and uncertain, and that it might be a good idea to store fat against a possible period of famine (maybe back during our homo erectus days, or earlier, the times we weren't able to get enough sleep were also times we weren't able to get enough food, thus, those ancestors whose bodies reacted to disrupted sleep cycles by storing more fat were eventually more sucessful in reproduction and raising children to adulthood).