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Sleep More Weigh Less

How many hours of sleep do you average per night? Now, answer this: How much do you weigh? According to health experts, the two are co-related.

Sigh!

New mothers, single parents trying to juggle three jobs and raise decent kids, and you ladies working the nightshift, I have bad news for you: According to a new study, women who sleep 5 hours or less per night weigh more on average than those who sleep 7 hours.

Double sigh!

The study, conducted by researchers at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, found that women who slept for 5 hours per night were 32% more likely to experience major weight gain (defined as an increase of 33 pounds or more) and 15% more likely to become obese over the course of the 16-year study compared with women who slept 7 hours. By the way, women who slept for 6 hours aren’t off the hook; they were 12% more likely to have major weight gain and 6% more likely to become obese compared with women who slept 7 hours a night.

The study included 68,183 middle-aged women, whose weight and sleep habits were tracked for 16 years. Of the study participants, the women who slept 5 hours or less per night weighed 5.4 pounds more at the beginning of the study than those sleeping 7 hours and gained an additional 1.6 pounds more over the next 10 years.

While that may not sound like much, I should note that some women gained much more than that. What’s more, doctors are quick to point out that even a small difference in weight can increase a person’s risk of health problems such as diabetes and hypertension.

Bottom line: According to this study, reduced sleep increases the risk of gaining weight over time.

Interestingly, researchers say they don’t have a definite answer from this study about why reduced sleep causes weight gain. They theorize that sleeping less may affect changes in a person’s basal metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn when you rest) and that if you sleep less, you move around less, and therefore burn up fewer calories.

Either way, if you needed another excuse to hit the sack earlier, this is it.

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About Michele Cheplic

Michele Cheplic was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaii, but now lives in Wisconsin. Michele graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in Journalism. She spent the next ten years as a television anchor and reporter at various stations throughout the country (from the CBS affiliate in Honolulu to the NBC affiliate in Green Bay). She has won numerous honors including an Emmy Award and multiple Edward R. Murrow awards honoring outstanding achievements in broadcast journalism. In addition, she has received awards from the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association for her reports on air travel and the Wisconsin Education Association Council for her stories on education. Michele has since left television to concentrate on being a mom and freelance writer.