There appears to be a link between lack of sleep and weight gain/obesity based on several studies. Not getting enough sleep (less than 7-8 hours per night) has been linked to increased hunger and appetite due to changes in hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin. It has also been linked to less healthy food choices and eating out more. Additionally, lack of sleep can cause lower energy levels and body temperature, which may contribute to less physical activity and weight gain over time. While some research also links oversleeping to weight gain, most studies support that getting adequate sleep (7-8 hours per night) can help maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle.

1. MelvinGillaspie,Jr.
Professor Lance
Psychology 118
Tuesday/Thursday
25 January2016

2. Gillaspie 1
Is there a link between weight and sleep?
How oftendoyouget seventoeighthoursof sleep? How oftendoyouget more or lesssleep
than that? More Americans,accordingtoa National SleepFoundation,are gettinglesssleepthanthey
usedto.“… in1998, 35 percentof Americanadults were getting8hoursof sleepanight,andby 2005
that had droppedto26 percent.” (ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.) The CenterforDisease Control
(CDC) keepsstatisticsonthistrendandtheyshow obesityisgrowinginteensandadultsduringthe
same time frame. Harvard Universitypublishedanarticle stating,“A goodnight’ssleepisone of the
keysto goodhealth – and may alsobe a keyto maintainingahealthyweight. There ismounting
evidence thatpeoplewhogettoolittle sleephave ahigherriskof weightgainandobesitythanpeople
whoget seventoeighthoursof sleepanight.” (ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.) The linkstheysiteare
increasedhunger,people havingmore time toeat, can cause people tomake lesshealthychoices,
people havinglessenergy,andlowerbodytemperature.
Harvard sitesincreasinghungerasapossible reasonforalteringthe body’shormonesthat
control hunger,andstates,“One small study,forexample,foundthatyoungmenwhowere deprivedof
sleephadhigherlevelsof appetite stimulating hormonesghrelinandloverlevelsof the satiety-inducing
hormone leptin….” (ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.) Asmuchas there seemstobe a linkto people
withsleepdeprivation,there alsoseemstobe a linktopeople whosleepmore thaneighthours. They
are callingthiseffect“reverse causation.” (ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.)There are certainmedical
conditionsthatcan contribute tothemoversleepingsuchas: sleepapnea,obstructive lungdisease,
depression,and/orcancer.
The lesstime people sleepthe more hourstheyare awake,sothatmeanstheyhave more hours
inthe dayto eat than people whogetmore sleep. Thisseemslogical but, “Recently,asmall laboratory
studyfoundthat people whowere deprivedof sleepandsurroundedbytastysnackstendedtosnack

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more – especiallyduringthe extrahourstheywere awake atnight – thanwhentheyhad adequate
sleep.” (ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.) Withthe increasingnumberof fast-foodoptionsandgrocery
storesthat are “openlate”or “open24/7” it hasgotteneasiertoget somethingtoeatlaterat night.
You can go online ordownloadanapplicationandorderfrommenus,soyouronlyhumaninteractionis
the deliveryperson.
Withthisease it iscausingpeople tomake unhealthyfoodchoices. Harvardsites,“one studyof
Japanese workersdidfindthatworkerswhosleptfeverthansix hoursanightwere more likelytoeat
out,have irregularmeal patterns,andsnackthan those whosleptmore thansix hours.” (Obesity
PreventionSourse,n.d.) (Tarkan,2011)The National TrafficSafetyBoardclaimsthatsleepdeprivationis
as bad or worse thanbeingintoxicatedwhenitcomestodriving,andpeople whoare tosignlegal
paperworkshouldnotbe underthe influence of alcohol ordrugs. Whydoesthe same notapplyfor
sleepdeprivation?
Have you everwokenupfroma nightof lessthansix hoursof sleepandyoudo not feel like you
have any energy? If youhave lessphysical energy,thenyouare lesslikelytoplayorganizedsportsor
exercise versussittingaroundwatchingTV orusingotherelectronics. Advice fromhealthjournalist
Laurie Tarkan includesseveral ideastoimprove yoursleephabitsandsleepoverall. She givesthe
suggestiontoseta “bedtime alarm”anhour to 45minutesas a remindertostart yourbedtime routine
and part of that includesturningoff ALLELECTRONICS. If you cannotseemto bringyourself todothis,
she suggestsubstitutingTV,withasettimerfor itto turn off,for the e-reader,cell phone,orcomputer.
So yoursleeppatterndoesnotgetdisturbedkeepthe cell phoneoutof the bedroomall together
because,“About 10 % of us are awakened from our sleep by the cell phone at least a few times a
week (more often for younger people).” (Tarkan, 2011) Other suggestions Tarkan gives include
having a dimmer switch in your room so your lights can be dimmed “a couple of hours before

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bed,” do not have work related technology or other work related items in the bed right before you
go to sleep, and the one that most of us DO NOT follow would be, “Don't drink caffeinated
beverages for six to nine hours before you go to sleep.” (Tarkan, 2011)
Another problem that sleep deprivation may possibly cause a lower body temperature
which in turn may cause a lower energy level. Harvard sites a laboratory experiment of people
who are sleep deprived tend to see a drop in their body temperature. “It has longbeensuspected
that sleepisimportantforregulatingbodytemperatureandmetabolic-rate.”(Krystal,etal.,2013)The
Universityof Sydney,Australiaconductedstudy:
“… of 60 hours of total sleepdeprivationinhumanswhere adecrease incore body
temperature wasfound, single nightsleepdeprivationstudiesdemonstratingincreases
inappetite andrelease of ghrelin,a hormone thatstimulateshunger, andstudiesof
chronicpartial sleeplossandintermittenttotal sleepdeprivationinratsandhumans
where these interventionsledtochangesinfoodintake,weight,glucosetolerance,
insulinsensitivity,energyexpenditure,ghrelinlevels,andleptinlevels(ahormone that
suppressesappetite).” (Krystal,etal.,2013)
As muchas there seemstobe studiestolinkthese two,there seemstobe researchto
NOT linkthem,but“There isconvincingevidence thatgettinglessthanideal amountof sleepis
an independentandstrongriskfactorfor obesity,ininfantsandchildrenaswell asinadults.”
(ObesityPreventionSourse,n.d.)“Yetfromapublichealthperspective,there islittle riskin
encouraginghealthysleepthroughlifestyle changes,suchassettinga consistentbedtime,
limitingcaffeinelate inthe day,andcurtailinghigh-techdistractionsinthe bedroom.” (Obesity
PreventionSourse,n.d.)The moral tothisstoryisgetyour sleeptoaidyour health.

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References
Krystal,A.D., Schoopler,B.,Kobbe,S.,Williams,C.,Rakatondrainibe,H.,Yoder,A.,& Kloper,P.(2013,
September4). TheRelationship of Sleep with Temperatureand MetabolicRatein a Hibernating
Primate.RetrievedfromPLOSONE:
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0069914
ObesityPrevention Sourse.(n.d.).RetrievedfromHarvardT.H.Chan School of PublicHealth:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesity-causes/sleep-and-obesity/
Tarkan, L. (2011, March 7). Sleep Deprivation:TheSurprising Causesond Solutions.RetrievedfromCBS
News:http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sleep-deprivation-the-surprising-causes-and-solutions/