Researchers from Brigham Young University in Utah (USA) found that sugar consumption among teenagers with impaired sleep was more than 2 kg higher every year than those with healthy sleep. It was also found that lack of sleep during the teenage years causes weight gain and an escalation in the risk of developing cardiometabolic conditions.
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Sleep is essential at any age, but especially during adolescence because development is key in these years, reported the study, the results of which were recently published in the medical journal Sleep.
Statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics revealed that more than 70% of teenagers sleep less than eight to ten hours each night, the recommended number of hours per day. Previous studies have found a link between sleep deprivation and poor mental health, low academic ability and behavioral problems. Lack of sleep at night can lead to type 2 diabetes.
During the two-week study, the team of researchers examined the eating behaviors of more than 90 girls and boys who adopted two different sleep patterns – short sleep of six hours for one week and long sleep of nine hours. In addition, the scientists recorded the calorie intake, the macronutrient intake and the glycemic load of the foods consumed by the participants.
They found that when the teenagers took part in the short sleep experiment, their sugar intake was much higher than in the long sleep group. In addition, they found that fruit and vegetable consumption was lower when the participants had a short sleep.
Dr Cara Doraccio, from the study lead, said: “What is interesting is that less sleep did not cause teenagers to eat more than their peers with healthy sleep patterns. Both groups consumed about the same amount of calories in food, but less sleep caused the teens to eat more junk food. We suspect that tired teenagers are looking for quick bursts of energy in foods high in carbohydrates and added sugars to keep them awake until they go to bed. “Shortened sleep increases the risk of teenagers eating more carbohydrates and added sugars and drinking more sugary drinks than when they are getting healthy sleep,” Doraccio added.
According to the findings, teenagers who suffer from a lack of sleep ate 12 grams of extra sugar every day and as a result consumed about 2.5 kg of extra sugar every year.
Prof. Julio Weinstein, director of the diabetes research unit at Wolfson Hospital and a senior diabetologist at the DMC Diabetes Center, commented on the research findings: “Child obesity is a global epidemic due to an unhealthy lifestyle in the modern world. A healthy lifestyle refers to regular physical activity, healthy eating and Quality sleep, on which, for some reason, not enough emphasis is placed, especially in young people. It is important to understand whether they have regular and healthy sleep that allows for a rate of development and growth, which the youth need at this stage in their lives. Sufficient and well-timed sleep should be the first goal to maintain a normal norm of body activity”.