MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, N.Y., July 28 (Our New York News) — Skipping sleep for a few nights is one thing. Making short sleep a habit may also make it easier to gain weight, according to Columbia University researchers in New York City.
A study from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that adults who cut sleep by about 80 to 90 minutes a night for six weeks gained about 1 pound on average and spent more time being sedentary. The researchers said the pattern may matter more than the number itself, because the study was designed to mimic the kind of chronic sleep loss many adults experience.
What does that mean in plain terms?
The study does not suggest that one short night instantly adds a pound. Instead, it points to a gradual effect: less sleep over several weeks was linked with a small but measurable increase in weight and a slightly larger waistline. Columbia said the average waist increase was about half a centimeter.
Why does this matter if the weight gain was modest?
Faris Zuraikat, an assistant professor of nutritional medicine at Columbia, said in the university’s release that the gain was not overwhelming over six weeks, but could become clinically meaningful if the pattern continued over a full year. In the same release, he said losing less than an hour and a half of sleep per night could add up over time.
The study also found that participants moved less when they slept less. Columbia said sedentary time rose by an average of 17 minutes a day overall, and by nearly 30 minutes a day among men and postmenopausal women.
Who was studied?
News reports on the paper said the Columbia team looked at 95 adults who were already at higher risk for heart or metabolic disease. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, compared a period of adequate sleep with a period of reduced sleep.
What the study can and cannot tell us
The findings show a link between shorter sleep and small changes in weight and activity, but the brief available from Columbia does not spell out every possible reason for the change. The research release does not offer a full explanation for whether the weight gain came from eating more, moving less, or both.
Even so, the take-home message is straightforward: for adults who regularly shave an hour or more off sleep, the scale may creep up more than expected, and the change may show up first as less movement and a slightly larger waist rather than a major jump in body weight.
For New York City readers, the story is also local: the findings come from Columbia researchers working in the city and add to a growing body of sleep and health research coming out of a major New York medical center.
