Evidence suggests that sleep disruption can lead to weight gain and obesity
A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP
A study funded by cancer charities and carried out by the University of Oxford has found a link between light levels in women’s rooms at night and their weight. Researchers speculated that melatonin might play a role, as it’s a hormone whose production is inhibited by exposure to light and is thought to play a role in metabolism. A study funded by the American Diabetes Association at Temple’s
PARKS
One of the reasons people have dif- fi culty sleeping is because of stress, and this can also lead to weight gain. The stress hormone, cortisol, causes an increase in appetite and when we’re stressed we’re more likely to reach for high calorifi c comfort foods. “One of the cures for stress is to eat sugar and fat: the body is designed to crave this, as it gives energy quickly,” says Dr William Bird, founder of Intelligent Health. “When we were hunter gatherers, in times of stress, confl ict and famine we would crave fat. When you are stressed you become
ISSUE 3 2014 © cybertrek 2014
Center for Obesity Research and Education in the US looked at the impact of sleep on children’s eating behaviours. When the children taking part in the study slept more, they consumed an average of 134 calories less per day, weighed half a pound less and had lower fasting levels of leptin – a hunger-regulating hormone which is highly correlated with the amount of adipose tissue – when compared to results monitored
less active and eat the wrong things.” Bird believes that a three-pronged approach is needed to tackle this issue: environment, community and purpose. He says the environment we live in has a great deal to do with our weight, stress and activity levels. “The more deprived the neighbourhood you live in, the more stressed you will be,” he says. “That’s why there are high lev- els of obesity and inactivity in areas of deprivation. Green space offsets that stress, so if you live near a park or visit a green space regularly, it has been shown to increase your life expectancy because your stress levels drop and then your habits change: you become more active and eat better.”
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in a week when they had less sleep. A study at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children analysed data from 1,046 children over a number of years by interviewing their mothers about their sleep patterns and, at the age of seven, measured their height and weight, lean body mass, waist and hip circumference, total body fat and abdominal fat. Researchers found an association between sleep curtailment and obesity.
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