Teens who lose sleep, may gain pounds, says scientists.

Teens who lose sleep, may gain pounds, says scientists.

latimesblogs.latimes.com

A new study presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies in Vancouver this week showed an association between sleep deprivation and a higher BMI. Researchers looked at data on 723 adolescents, average age about 15, and gave each one an accelerometer, which measures movement. The study participants were also asked about their sleep habits on weekdays and weekends, how often they had problems sleeping, and calorie consumption.

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The scientific community has linked bad sleeping habits in teens to being overweight. Less sleep on weekends and weekdays led to obesity in boys, while less sleep on weekends ONLY, led to obesity in girls.

Let me tell the scientific community something that may boggle their minds. As a former teenager you should know that teens don't act like they do on Disney. As a matter of fact, South Park is a fairly accurate representation of 4th graders so imagine teens. When I was a teen and was losing sleep it was because of the following.

Getting high (munchies), getting drunk (beerbelly), staying up late playing video games (munchies again). The thing is, if you are staying up late as a teen, chances are you are doing something that you weren't supposed to, aka having a social life. The reason girls didn't have the correlation on weekdays that boys had is because they rarely ate anyways, they are self conscious. Stop trying to figure out what is wrong with todays youth. It is simply a lack of parenting, end of story. I know you will be proud to present your finding but they are wrong. Focus your studies on bad parenting instead and stop wasting your time and our money.

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I'm gunna have to go ahead and agree with you on that one!

Just to buck the statistics, I have always been a bad sleeper. As a teenager I was tall and thin. As and adult I am tall and muscular. If you saw what I ate today, you would probably be sick. I visited the almighty evil clown of fast food twice and both the other meals were deep fried. I also regularly consume half a 700ml bottle of spirits a night with full sugar mixer. Almost every night in fact. That said, I spend around 10hrs a night in bed in an attempt to make up for my horrible sleep quality.

I think getting more sleep would make 2/5ths of f**k all difference. What you say about what people are doing INSTEAD of sleep probably has much more to do with it.

Btw, for anyone reading this, I used to drink much less and eat much better. I even went to the gym 4 x a week and it made NO difference to my sleep quality. I'm simply doomed to a lifetime of poor sleep but fat I am not.

[edit on 5-5-2010 by OZtracized]

That's really the whole pop science field in a nushell isn't it. Out all night getting wasted and eating garbage and the lack of sleep made them fat.

On the other hand if they were sleeping rather than being out all night getting wasted they wouldn't have had opportunity to get so fat.

I Amaya wanted to live a year treating these studies as gospel and doing whatever they say just to see what would happen.

Unfortunately I care too much about myself to chance ruining my body and mind even for a year.


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I am horrified somebody actually got grant funding to perform such a study. I thought the frivolous use of such funds was long over.

Oh well, maybe not. Maybe I should dream up something to apply for a grant....let's see. Is there a correlation between sleeping too much, and anorexia?

Or, is there a correlation between over-eating and obesity?

But OP I agree with you. When I was a teen I got in bed, turned out the light, and talked on the phone unbeknownst to my parents until almost dawn. Then when to school. I did this, for years. I was, and am, still thin.
(Only now I hate telephones).

My theory about obesity: It's the economy. Because both parents have to work, everybody is too tired to cook when they get home. Consequently, they eat take-out which is full of fat, sodium, and toxins.

I agree with what you had to say drinking and smoking both lead to late night eating.

But when it comes to being sleep deprived and being hungry I find that when I don't get much sleep I end up eating a lot more during the day to try to stay energized. If I don't get at least 7-8 hours it seems like I am hungry constantly throughout the day.

You don't need a study to figure this one out. Chronic loss of sleep causes stress, which causes the brain to release cortisol, which is a type of natural steroid, among other things. As the brains neurotransmitters get more out of whack, the serotonin and norepinepherine axises get out of balance, causeing depression and more lack of sleep. I personally think that the artificial steroids and growth hormones given to our cattle, chicken, and pork for better yield exacerbates the problem. Face it, the food chain has been effed up for a long time. Excess steroid use is associated with depression, which is as much a physical problem as it is a psychological problem. You look up any website that describes depression from the scientific point of view (neuroendocrinology), and you will find motivation goes towards zero. Sure, young people have had too much given to them, but there is also a physiological part of this terrible problem.

Deadred: This is a chicken/egg scenario you are proposing. Depression frequently effects sleep patterns causing either insomnia or hypersomnia. Depression can cause loss of appetite, or increased appetite. The pendulum can swing either way. Obesity frequently causes depression for evident reasons.

Obviously there are neuropsychological/endogenous causes for depression, but most of them are emotional.

The problem here appears to be lifestyle, and maladapted coping strategies, although it's not surprising that the toxins in our food supply contribute and exacerbate issues -- with any medical/psychological problem.

It's really not that complicated. Poor lifestyle. Overeat on a poor diet, sleep too little or too much, equals a poor and unhealthy lifestyle. It's going to show in your appearance, your health medically and psychologically, your performance.

In reality you are what you eat. You can compare cultures or even socio economic classes. The higher caloric intake one has, the more cushion for the pushin that one person ends up with.

Anyone looking to lose weight, don't go for the diet pills. Watch your caloric intake or exercise 20mins a day or do both.

[edit on 6-5-2010 by prionace glauca]

As a teenager I was always in bed by midnight as my dad would chase everyone with the broom if they weren't. I weighed about 120 pounds throughout high school. When i was 22 and started working bars I gained a lot of weight. I didn't sleep 8 hours a night and ate like crap. When i lost all the weight I gained I just started eating organic as much as possible, took walks and went to bed on time. Lost 80 pounds over a year and a half. Normally I float around 135 at 5'7, I'm hollywood fat. Of course I'm preggo so I don't really worry about the scale now but really, they could have just talked to me. I wouldn't have charged that much.

reply to post by ventian


I don't think it has as to do with what kind of sleep these kids are getting, as much as it has to do with what they eat, and their activity level.

Kids, stay up all night now, doing things like playing video games, with their fingers. They are not outside as much, and if they eat junk food, guess what? They gain weight.

If they got excersize, they wouldn't be up as late, either. Their body's need a work out, by way of at least walking, which is something that teenagers just don't do, anymore.

Why would anybody have to do a study to even prove this?

More tax dollars wasted!

reply to post by Blanca Rose


Bingo, BR. We don't need no stinkin' studies. lol. It's clear it's the junk food and lack of exercise. Period. If they fill up on junk food, and caffeine filled soda's before bedtime, no wonder they can't sleep. Then they get so hyped up over those games!

Plus, they all sleep with the cell phones now, and text during the night. None of their phones ring anymore...they all just quiver and buzz to keep the parents from hearing them. lol. Sly little critters.