I was a Fat Girl

Do you need to lose weight? Then, turn off the television or computer an hour earlier and go to bed. We’re sleeping too little, experts warn.

Too much sitting instead of being active is clearly part of why overweight is now common.

But studies suggest that a lack of sleep may make weight loss and weight control more of a challenge by altering our metabolism, as well as our eating and activity patterns.

Some research has directly tested the idea that sleep deprivation leads to weight problems. For instance, in a Japanese study of six-and seven-year olds, children who slept nine to ten hours a night were compared to those who only slept eight to nine hours.

The latter group was almost twice as likely to be overweight. Children sleeping less than eight hours a night were almost three times as likely to be overweight.

Changes in hormone levels have been linked to sleep deprivation in several studies. One hormone, cortisol, regulates metabolism of sugar, protein, fat, minerals and water. Physical or emotional stress raises cortisol levels. Lack of sleep may also raise levels at certain times of the day.

Second, higher levels of insulin, a condition known as insulin resistance, have also been linked to a shortage of sleep in several studies. Excess cortisol could be the link. Since insulin not only controls blood sugar, but also promotes fat storage, extra insulin makes weight loss more difficult.

Sleep affects behavior (UK - Behaviour. USA - Behavior)

Further research needs to validate the hormonal changes observed. But even without any hormonal impact, sleep deprivation can promote weight gain by affecting our behavior.

When people low on sleep find their energy dropping throughout the day, many turn to food for a pickup. The short-term rise in blood sugar gives a more energetic feeling, but often the extra calories are not needed by the body and must be stored as body fat.

Furthermore, the most appealing foods when we feel low on energy are often sweets or refined carbohydrates with low nutrient density. If sleep deprivation causes insulin resistance, overconsuming these types of carbohydrates may be especially problematic.

Not only is it easy to take in excess calories when sleep deprived. For many people, calorie burning decreases. If your extra waking hours are spent in sedentary activities at a desk or computer or in front of the TV, you’re not burning many more calories than when asleep.

And when sleep deprived, people are often too tired to exercise. Or if they do manage to exercise, they work out less intensely than usual. For example, a rested person may walk two miles in a half-hour, while someone more fatigued may go much less. The tired person would burn fewer calories, despite walking just as long.

Sleep experts recommend at least eight hours of sleep a night for most adults. Yet Americans average just under seven hours during the workweek, according to the National Sleep Foundation. In fact, a third of adults reportedly sleep no more than six-and-a-half hours nightly.

Shutting off the TV an hour earlier means an hour less munching time. It could also shift your metabolism to make weight control easier. It could even leave you with more energy to exercise. Definitely, these are propositions to sleep on.

Victoria of Amednews.com reported that lifestyle issues contribute to weight gain in teen girls. Experts are calling for more attention to factors associated with sedentary behaviour and gradual added pounds.

Teen girls who want to lose weight may need to consider how much they sleep, drink and surf the Internet, according to a study published online July 10 in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Researchers analyzed data from 4,427 girls ages 14 to 21 who were participating in the Growing Up Today Study, a cohort of children of subjects from the Nurses’ Health Study II. An average weight gain of four pounds per year was associated with getting less than five hours of sleep a night, drinking more than two servings of alcohol per week and surfing the Internet for recreation for an hour or more at a time.

Coffee did not appear to play a role. However, the authors noted that the caloric content of many coffee drinks has increased since this population was surveyed in 2000 and 2001. The other worry is the cumulative effect of these additional pounds as these lifestyle issues become hard-to-break habits.

“These particular factors are potentially very important with regard to excess weight gain because as girls get older, they spend more time on the Internet while getting less sleep, drinking more coffee and, possibly, also beginning to consume alcohol,” said Catherine Berkey, ScD, lead author and a lecturer in medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Experts praised the paper for attempting to quantify the many lifestyle factors that may contribute to weight gain among adolescent girls.

“This study makes perfect sense,” said Ellen Rome, MD, MPH, head of adolescent medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Most suspect these behaviors are connected to weight because they play a role in sedentary behavior and excess calorie consumption. For example, teens who spend a lot of time in front of computers would have, before the Internet, been sitting in front of a TV. Therefore, adolescent medicine specialists are calling for physicians to ask about total screen time rather than just television hours.

“The Internet is the new watching television for this particular generation of adolescents and young adults,” said James Farrow, MD, professor of pediatrics and medicine and director of the student health service at Tulane University in New Orleans. “It’s a sedentary way of socializing instead of playing a sport or something like that, and I would not be surprised if they were eating at the same time they were on the Internet.”

Alcohol provides significant liquid calories and can lead to sleep disturbances. This lack of sleep quality, in turn, can lead to metabolic issues that can add pounds. The resulting daytime sleepiness may mean that teens will not have the energy to participate in physical activity.

“It becomes a vicious cycle. Alcohol can significantly disrupt [one's] sleep cycle, and if they’re more sleepy during the day, they’re not going to be as active,” said Tonya Chaffee, MD, MPH, associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco.

Those who work with adolescents also would like to see more analysis of how these factors may affect the weight of teen boys, and of the impact of all caffeinated drinks, not just coffee.

Source: Amednews.com