Sleep Duration Effects to Belly Fat in Minority Kids

Getting too little sleep or too much sleep can lead to increases in belly fat among African-American and Hispanic young adults, according to researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

For the study lead by Kristen Hairson, MD, assistant professor of internal medicain at Wake Forest Universeity School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., researchers collected information from 332 African-Americans and 775 Hispanics, 18-81 years of age. On average, participants slept for 6.7 hours each night. Less than 20% of the participants reported sleeping five hours or elss per night, 55% preported sleeping 6-7 hours nightly, and 28% averaged 8 or more hours of sleep each night.

Results of the study revealed that among those 40 years old or younger, both short and long seep durations resulted in significant increaes in body mass index (BMI), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) fat accumulation.

"Appropriate amounts of sleep are important for maintence of healthy weight," Dr. Hairson stated. " In a group of African-American and Hispanic participants, those who slept less than this had greater increases in belly fat over a five-year period."

Proposed explainations of the findings suggest that shorter hours of sleep may promote increased caloric intake via increased hunger or by lowering energy expenditure. Additionallly, the authors suggested that it is imporant for health care providers to encourage patients to get adequate amounts of sleep.

The findings of this study was published in the March 1 issue of Sleep.