Sleeping less than 8 hours a night may be linked to weight gain in teens, shows a new study presented at CHEST 2011, the 77th annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP). Furthermore, obesity was linked to short sleep duration in teen males, with the fewest hours slept linked to the highest BMI levels. “Sleep is food for the brain. When teens do not get enough sleep, they fall asleep in class, struggle to concentrate, look and feel stressed, get sick more often, and do not meet their obligations due to tiredness,” said study author Lata Casturi, MA, RPSGT, Baylor College of Medicine Sleep Center in Houston, TX. “Teens who sleep fewer than eight hours may also consume more calories than those who sleep more than eight hours. Therefore, they have a higher risk for obesity and associated health problems, including high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.”
