When Deprived Of Sleep, People Tend To Eat More, Gain Weight

A U.S. laboratory study of 225 healthy, non-obese adults showed that later bedtimes and restricted sleep – about four hours a night – leads to more eating and greater weight gain (around 2 kg on average for the sleep-deprived sample). Participants in the study slept either four hours or eight hours a night. Meals were served at scheduled times, and food was always available in the laboratory kitchen for snacking. Caloric intake rose during sleep restriction, due to an increase in the number of meals consumed during the late-night period of additional wakefulness. Participants also tended to eat more fatty foods during late-night hours than at other times of day.