The findings from a recent study suggest that sleep durations in an emerging adult population is associated with metabolic disease risk. The study was published in the journal, Nutrients.
This cross-sectional study included 3816 adult students from University of New Hampshire between the age group of 18-24 years. Using anthropometric data and biochemical measures, the study was carried out using data obtained between 2012 and 2021, determining MetS (metabolic syndrome) prevalence. Online health behavior questionnaires provided information on sleep duration and physical activities of the participants. ANCOVA test was used for analysis of data.
The results reported a mean sleep duration of 8.2 h/day and an MSSS (Metabolic Syndrome Severity Scores) of -0.65, showing that MetS (≥3 criteria) was present in 3.3% of the 3816 students whereas 15.4% met ≥2 of MetS criteria. Thus, MSSS was higher both among reduced sleepers (<7h/day) and long duration (>9h/day) sleepers when compared to reference sleepers (7-8h/day).
Based on the results, it was concluded that having inadequate sleep may result in increased metabolic disease risk. Thus, to prevent and treat MetS, adequate sleep must be aided with diet and activity intervention strategies.
Source: Bilal A. Chaudhry, Michael S. Brian, Jesse Stabile Morrell. The Relationship between Sleep Duration and Metabolic Syndrome Severity Scores in Emerging Adults. Nutrients. 2023. 15(4), 1046.
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15041046
