Stay Thin By Sleeping More
A study published Monday found that people who sleep less tend to be fat, and experts said it's time find if more sleep will fight obesity.
"We've put so much emphasis on diet and exercise that we've failed to recognize the value of good sleep," said a physician .
The study covered 1,000 people and found that total sleep time decreased as body mass index -- a measure of weight based on height -- increased.
Men slept an average of 27 minutes less than women and overweight and obese patients slept less than patients with normal weights, it said. In general, the fatter subjects slept about 1.8 hours a week less than those with normal weights.
"Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary, as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index," it added.
"We caution that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between restricted sleep and obesity, but investigations demonstrating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to establish such a relationship." |