The Effect of Short Sleep Duration on Body Weight: A Review on Evidences

Obesity is a chronic and multidimensional disorder which is related to adipose tissue. It is well agreed that environmental factors are more important than genetic factors in the etiology of obesity. Some important environmental factors include dietary habits، food intake، physical activity، and sleep duration. Most of the available studies have focused on energy intake and physical activity. However، there are limited data regarding the association between sleep duration and body weight. Hence، in this review article، the association of sleep duration and body weight among adolescent and adults was assessed. Using search motor of PubMed، papers with various methodological designs (cohort and cross sectional) which were published during 1990 and 2012 were detected. It was found that adults who sleep less than 6 hours a day are more likely to be obese. Moreover، the inverse association between sleep duration and body weight was shown among adolescents. Nevertheless، the positive association between short sleep duration and body weight was found among older adults. The most important limitation of the available studies is the lack of information regarding the causes of short sleep duration. It seems that short sleep duration is associated with obesity and overweight especially among younger adults and children.