Less sleep in teens causes weight gain

A new study headed  by an Indian-origin researcher revealed that sleeping for less than 8 hours  cause weight gain in teens.Short sleep is  mentioned as one of the main causes of developing obesity at younger age.

The report says that short sleep leads to higher BMI levels which causes weight gain. The author of the study Lata Casturi,MA ,RPSGT, Baylor College of Medicine in Texas says, that sleep is like a food for the brain, when teens do not sleep for appropriate hours the tiredness makes them  feel sleepiness,causes concentration problem, get sick and feel stressed  more often.

She further says that teens who do not sleep for 8 hours takes more calories as compared to those who take proper amount of sleep daily.Thus, they have higher risk of health problems and develop disorders like obesity or weight gain.The study was performed on 255 teens consisting of 108 boys and 147 girls.

Boys who slept less than 8 hours had BMI 3.8 percent higher than boys who slept for more than 8 hours of sleep.Similarly, girls who slept less than 8hours had BMI 4.7 percent higher than the ones who slept more than 8 hours. The difference between the two sex may be due to the body composition during puberty.

The study was shown  at CHEST, 77th annual meeting of American College of Chest Physicians.