Local News
Study shows more sleep can lead to greater weight loss
Keokuk County part of long-term study
SIGOURNEY — Want to lose weight? You know the basics: Eat right, exercise, sleep more.
Sleep more?
Yep. Researchers at the University of Iowa say a long-term study of southeast Iowa residents indicates a possible link between the amount of time a person sleeps and that person’s body mass index (BMI). The study used data collected between 1999 and 2004 as part of the Keokuk County Rural Health Study. Dr. Neal Kohatsu was principal investigator for the study.
“On average, for each hour of sleep decrease there was an association of a three-pound increase in weight,” Kohatsu said.
The BMI is a measurement used to calculate whether a person is overweight. It uses height and weight. Both measurements were taken from the 990 adults in the Keokuk County study. The average BMI was 29.5, in the “overweight” category but below the threshold for obesity.
The most recent part of the study focused on sleep habits. People were asked about how many hours they sleep on a typical worknight, alcohol consumption and snoring. The largest group of participants reported sleeping between seven and eight hours per night. Researchers noticed the people with the least sleep, under six hours per night, had the highest BMI numbers.
Not everyone is sold on the idea of sleep as an aid in weight control.
“Are the increases in BMI and people sleeping less directly related? Probably not,” said Dr. Jim Merchant, dean of the university’s college of public health. “But our findings are provocative. They stimulate additional research and raise concern that this is a problem in rural America where obesity rates are higher.”
Obesity is a rural health concern. If there is a link between sleep and weight, it could be particularly pronounced in rural areas, where farmers frequently get up before dawn.
Doctors say obesity is linked to a long list of health problems, including high cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. It is also tied to obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which people repeatedly stop breathing during sleep. Some have suggested obstructive sleep apnea contributed to the death of former NFL lineman Reggie White.
The study’s next focus is on nutrition, though the researchers will continue to look at BMI numbers and sleep patterns.
“We are ready to kick off a new round of study and we are learning a lot more than we expected with the Keokuk County data,” Merchant said. “The data is turning out to be useful in a lot of ways we did not anticipate. The higher BMI/less sleep association is a perfect example.”
Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com
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