Staying awake or neglecting to sleep could be causing obesity in adolescent girls. This is not only true about the sleep duration but also about irregular sleep patterns and being awake late in the night.
The study, which set out to investigate the association between morning or evening sleep preferences as well as ‘social jet lag’ with adiposity and cardiometabolic risk in young adolescents. The study has been published in the JAMA Pediatrics journal and was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). [1]
It noted that these factors were associated with a greater risk of obesity among girls. However, the same was not observed with the males. No associations were made with the cardiometabolic risk, which means there was no increased risk of heart diseases or conditions such as diabetes with these factors.
It further concludes that interventions aimed at improving sleep schedules may help avoid obesity in girls.
