In a randomized clinical trial of 80 adults (51.3% male; mean age 29.8 yrs; mean BMI, 28.1) with habitual sleep less than 6.5 hours per night, those randomized to a 2-week sleep extension intervention significantly reduced their daily energy intake by approximately 270 kcal compared with the control group. Total energy expenditure did not significantly differ between the sleep extension and control groups, resulting in a negative energy balance with sleep extension. While the intervention group had been counseled to increase sleep to 8.5 hours per night, actual sleep duration increased 1.2 hours per night for a total of 7.7 hours.
In their conclusion, the authors highlighted the importance of improving and maintaining adequate sleep duration as a public health target for obesity prevention and increasing awareness about the benefits of adequate sleep duration for healthy weight maintenance.
Source: Tasali E, Wroblewski K, Kahn E, Kilkus J, Schoeller DA. Effect of sleep extension on objectively assessed energy intake among adults with overweight in real-life settings: a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2022;182(4):365–374.
