Belly Fat: New Study Reveals Sleep Deprivation Causes Abdominal Obesity

Sleep deprivation, also known as the insufficient quantity or quality of sleep, has been recognized to be the cause of a variety of poor health conditions, including mental and physical fatigue, weakened immune system, and deteriorated cognitive functions.

In a new clinical study, medical researchers found that the lack of sleep sends fat into the wrong direction, the belly-leading to abdominal obesity or harmful visceral. This is the first time that a scientific link of causal evidence between sleep deprivation and belly fat.

Belly Fat

In a new randomized controlled study from the journal of the American College of Cardiology and first posted on MDEdge.com on Monday, March 28, researchers enrolled sleep-deprived yet non-obese young adults aged between 19 and 39 years old.

The experiment was conducted in a hospital, and the researchers divided the participants into two groups: controlled and experimental. The first group was allowed to sleep consistently for nine hours each night, while the second group, have to be restricted to only four hours of sleep per night for two weeks.

As a result, the sleep-deprived subjects showed a significant increase in visceral adipose tissue in their belly area which later turned into abdominal fat.

Sleep Hours

Since there are variations when it comes to an individual's preference on how long to sleep, debates are still underway on whether to follow or question the conventional recommended sleep hours.

This is evident since experts in the field of sleep medicine and other studies, in recent years, have weighed in the traditional seven to eight hours of sleep per day.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides the following 'recommended hours of sleep per day depending on the age group:

• Newborn (up to three months) - 14 to 17 hours
• Infant (four to 12 months) - 12 to 16 hours, including naps
• Toddler (one to two years) - 11 to 14 hours, including naps
• Preschool (three to five years) - 10 to 13 hours, including naps
• School Age (six to 12 years) - nine to 12 hours
• Teen (13 to 18 years) - eight to 10 hours
• Adult (18 to 60 years) - seven or more hours
• Adult (61 to 64 years) - seven to 9 hours
• Adult (65+ years) - seven to eight hours

Based on the recommendation, there is a gradual pattern of decrease in sleeping hours as the age group progresses toward adulthood. In summary, this entails that young people require more sleep compared to the older age group.

The aforementioned recommended hours of sleep is also supported by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Lack of Sleep

There are instances when a person wakes up from a few hours of sleep, either it is a result of painstaking activities from the previous day or due to an interrupted sleep caused by the surrounding environment.

A person can subjectively determine if he or she is sleep-deprived, and the most common symptoms of sleep deprivation are gasping for air or snoring, says the CDC.

The quantity and quality of sleep are the sole basis of sleep deprivation. In general, good sleep is reportedly characterized by long hours of 'uninterrupted' sleep.

According to the Sleep Foundation, 1/3 or 33% of American adults in the United States are suffering from sleep deprivation over recent years. In the field of sleep medicine, sleep deprivation is also called 'sleep deficiency' or 'sleep insufficiency' in line with the recommended sleep duration per age group.

In spite of our current understanding of sleep, there has been no concrete study or research linking sleep and belly fat.