Scientists have proven that teenagers who sleep less than eight hours a night are more likely to be overweight or obese compared to their peers who sleep enough.
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A new study shows that most teenagers don't get enough sleep, and this is linked to weight gain and obesity, potentially creating problems for them in the future.
The study looked at the relationship between sleep duration and health in 1,229 Spanish adolescents. The average age of participants at baseline was 12 years old, with an equal number of boys and girls. Sleep was measured over seven days using a wearable activity tracker. Participants were categorized as very short sleepers (less than 7 hours), short sleepers (7 to 8 hours), and optimal sleepers (8 hours or more).
Overweight and obesity were defined as body mass index. The researchers calculated a continuous metabolic syndrome score ranging from negative (healthier) to positive (unhealthy) values that included waist circumference, blood pressure, glucose, and blood lipids.
At age 12, only 34% of participants slept at least 8 hours a night, and at ages 14 and 16, that number dropped to 23% and 19%, respectively. Boys tended to sleep less. Teens who slept the most also had better-quality sleep, meaning they woke up less during the night and spent more time asleep in bed than those who slept less. The prevalence of overweight/obesity was 27%, 24% and 21% at ages 12, 14 and 16, respectively.
Scientists are now investigating whether poor sleep habits are linked to excessive screen time, which may explain why older teens sleep even less than younger ones.