Posted on 11/24/2004 2:56:15 PM PST by B-Chan
Lack of Sleep May Lead to Excess Weight
Study Finds Link Between Hours of Sleep and Risk of Obesity
(Las Vegas, NV) - November 16, 2004 - The less you sleep, the more likely you are to become obese, according to a study being presented at the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO)'s Annual Scientific Meeting held November 14-18.
The study, by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and the Obesity Research Center, demonstrated a clear link between the risk of being obese and the number of hours of sleep each night, even after controlling for depression, physical activity, alcohol consumption, ethnicity, level of education, age, and gender. The study was an analysis of data taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I (NHANES I).
Specifically, the study found that subjects between the ages of 32 and 59 who slept four hours or less per night were 73 percent more likely to be obese than those who slept between seven and nine hours each night. People who got only five hours of sleep had a 50 percent higher risk than those who were getting a full night's rest. Those who got six hours of sleep were just 23 percent more likely to be substantially overweight.
"The results are somewhat counterintuitive, since people who sleep less are naturally burning more calories," said lead researcher James Gangwisch, a post-doctoral fellow in psychiatric epidemiology at Columbia University. "But we think it has more to do with what happens to your body when you deprive it of sleep as opposed to the amount of physical activity that you get. Other studies have shown that leptin levels decrease and grehlin levels increase in people who are sleep-deprived, leading to increased appetite and consumption."
(Excerpt) Read more at naaso.org ...
And I’m not alone. This report serves to support my unscientific opinion that the American way of work is a major threat to public health (through lack of rest, obesity, stress-related illness, etc.).
Please note: I’m not saying that work is bad— I’m a big believer in work. I simply think that work ought to be kept in its proper place — as something done in moderate amounts, and as a vocation, not an obligation. I believe that instead of going to a job in a futile quest for self-glorification, personal status, or the Big Bucks, we should instead devote our labor to those enterprises that directly benefit our families, and by extension our society. The idea of laboring long hours at a “workplace”, performing a task of questionable value so that the Boss can buy another boat is stupid. A man’s work should be its own reward, and the produce of that labor should be used to the benefit of his family.
“But I have to work a job!”, someone says. “I don’t want my family to be poor!” Poor? Since when is monetary wealth the only kind that counts? I repudiate our society’s entire definition of poverty. Poverty has nothing to do with money; true poverty is a life wasted doing meaningless crap. The poorest people in the world are those who spend their lives toiling away in some rabbit hutch or shopfloor instead of holding hands with their spouses watching their kids grow up. From a child’s point of view, no amount of “wealth” is worth not having Mommy or Daddy around. I’d rather eat beans and cornbread every night than squander the only true wealth there is in this cold world — love, both of family and of God. By working for ourselves, we amass the greatest wealth their is — the joy of spending our lives in our homes and with our families doing what the good Lord called each of us to do.
On the other hand, the best one can hope for after a lifetime spent neglecting home and family in return for a paycheck or a nameplate is retirement — to be put out to pasture like a worn-out draft animal. What a waste of human life!
The idea that “working” at a “job” is the way we were neant to live may just be killing us. The older I get, the more I think that we'd be better off as a country if many of us Americans simply quit our jobs (many of which are unproductive or even counterproductive in human terms) and reordered our lives and our civilization around our homes and families rather than around jobs and careers. If that means a lower GNP, fewer toys, or a so-called lower standard of living (what a joke!), then so be it. We should end the unnatural separation of work and life and return to the traditional and natural lifestyle of working at home, from home, or for a family business near where we live.
Working for a living is a poor substitute for living. Let’s consider the benefits of a life of entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and working for the benefit of our families over a lifestyle of corporatism, capitalism, and other forms of Working for the Man.
Did they control for the additional eating during more waking hours...possibly late at night?
I think the invention of the light bulb has a lot to do with it, too :) Our ancestors worked harder than many of us do today and probably got more sleep. I bet a lot of folks today could go to sleep earlier and just won't. Too many other choices thanks to the wonders of modern technology.
As a business analyst running many implementations, I'm under extreme stress and get less than 6 hours of sleep a night. I'm 10 pounds under-weight. For me, sleep deprivation is not part of the calculus.
In my experience, the less I weigh, the less sleep I need. the more I weigh, the more I require. And if I were to blame it on anything, it's a sedentary life in front of a TV while munching on "snacks" all damn night, every damn night.
Bump for later reading
You load 16 tons and whaddaya get?
another day older and deeper in dept
Saint Peter don'tcha call me 'Cause-
I can't go...I owe my soul to the Company
"Did they control for the additional eating during more waking hours...possibly late at night?"
Think you hit the nail on the head! Unfortunately, I speak from experience!! I work a second job some nights, and can't unwind when I first get home to go straight to sleep, so unfortunately instead I tend to eat when I'm not hungry, and then go to bed on a full stomach. A recipe for disaster!
Sleep lab ..........give it a try ! Cured my dozin woes !
Sleep disorders will "kill" you !
Oh, spare me.
What is this, a Berkeley seminar?
especially if you stay up eating...
Seriously. You've seen those cortisol commercials. Lack of sleep does increase corisol levels which leads to weight gain. The light bulb is a real enemy also. There was tremendous wisdom in the old saying "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man, healthy, wealthy, and wise". Syncing up your body clock/sleep cycle with the planet/sun's cycle is smart.
Damn, no wonder I'm fat and tired.
I’m not advocating socialism or anything like it. I think that people should be free to own, dispose of, and amass private property as they wish, and that priviate initiative and personal ambition are (when tempered by a properly formed conscience) are good. I’m not saying that people should drop out, become hippies, and quit working. I’m a big fan of entrepreneurship, free enterprise, and rational self-interest. I’m simply saying that working for a living is a poor substitute for living; I’m simply saying that we should order our society so that the family, not the corporation, is the basic unit of the economy. It’s my opinion that a life spent working for the benefit of our families is healthier than the lifestyle of Working for the Man.
So, afternoon naps prevent obesity.
Excellent news.
I'll e-mail this article to my wife.
But what would you change to achieve these objectives?
Ditto as a college student...those midnight snacks have got to stop.
"Ditto as a college student...those midnight snacks have got to stop."
So far it's been a losing battle, but I'm going to keep trying! Nice to know I'll have company! Good luck!
Saint Peter, don't you call me 'cause I can't go....
I owe my soul to the company sto'
Naps around 3 PM could be good. That's when my blood sugar hits bottom, and it's TEA TIME. Then perhaps an apple would suffice until dinner. Don't forget to drink lots of water. Exercize (the E word) stimulates one out of lethargy, hence lots of energy to tire us out more so we sleep better at night. The old ways are the best ways
after all.
Sorry, just finishing that line for you.......
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