Skipping sleep may pack on pounds faster than you think, new study finds

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Regularly cutting back on sleep could cause the number on the scale to creep up, according to new research.

A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that adults who got about 90 minutes less sleep each night for six weeks gained roughly one pound on average compared with periods when they got enough rest.

Researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center studied 95 adults who were already atrisk for heartor metabolic disease, comparing six weeks of adequate sleep with six weeks of cutting about 90 minutes of sleep each night.

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Couple checks a phone while in bed before sleep.

Regularly cutting back on sleep may cause the number on the scale to increase, a new study finds.(iStock)

By the end of the sleep-restricted phase, participants weighed about one pound more on average and had slightly larger waistlines.They also spent more time sitting, although their levels of moderate and vigorous exercise remained about the same.

While participants gained weight, researchers did not detect significant changes in body fat or muscle mass.They also did not track how much participants ate, so it’s unclear what drove the increase.

Dr.com/category/health/endocrine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">body’s metabolism.

Javaid said chronic sleep deprivation can make it harder for the body to regulate weight, but noted that women going throughmenopausemay be especially vulnerable because sleep problems become more common during that stage of life.

“We are destroying women’s sleep at the exact life stage when their metabolism is [the] least able to absorb the hit, then telling them to eat less and exercise more,” Javaid said.

Woman stands on a scale checking her weight.

Adults gained about one pound on average and had slightly larger waistlines after six weeks of restricted sleep, compared with periods when they got enough rest.(iStock)

She added that the American Heart Association now recognizes sleep as one of its “Life’s Essential 8” for heart health and recommends adults getseven to nine hours of sleepeach night.

“Chronic short sleep is not a lifestyle quirk,” Javaid said.“We need to treat sleep as a vital sign of health.”

While the findings suggest regularly getting less sleep may contribute to weight gain, the researchers noted several limitations of the study.