If you want to lose weight, get more sleep. That’s the message from a large study being released today. It confirms earlier research suggesting that sleep deprivation promotes weight gain.Researchers at Columbia University in New York looked back at sleep patterns and obesity rates among participants in the government’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1982-84 and then again in 1987. (More recent surveys did not look at sleep patterns.)They examined the records of 6,115 people, ages 32-59. Participants were categorized by the amount of sleep they got each night. Those who slept for seven to nine hours were considered normal sleepers. The researchers didn’t consider such factors as depression, physical activity and gender.
