Sleep more to avoid belly fat and weight gain – the longer you are awake the more you eat, study suggests

Shortened sleep – even in young, healthy people – is associated with an increase in calorie intake and a significant increase in fat gain inside the belly

The findings implicate inadequate sleep as a contributor to the epidemics of obesity, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, a contributor to the study says

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A study in the US has found that people who do not get enough sleep tend to eat more, and that gets converted into deep belly fat. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:15am, 21 Apr 2022

Lack of sufficient sleep combined with free access to food increases calorie consumption and fat accumulation – especially unhealthy fat inside the belly.

These were the findings from a study from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, in the United States. Not getting enough sleep led to a nine per cent increase in total abdominal fat area and an 11 per cent increase in abdominal visceral fat – the fat deposited deep inside the abdomen around internal organs that is strongly linked to cardiac and metabolic diseases.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Lack of sufficient sleep is often a behaviour choice, and this choice has become increasingly pervasive.

Lack of sufficient sleep is often a behaviour choice, say experts. Photo: Getty Images/PhotoAlto

More than one-third of adults in the US routinely do not get enough sleep, in part because of shift work, and smart devices and social networks being used during traditional sleep times. Also, people tend to eat more during longer waking hours without increasing physical activity.

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