Individualized Sleep Counseling Can Aid Weight Loss in Overweight

MONDAY, Feb. 7, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- For overweight adults with habitual sleep duration of less than 6.5 hours/night, individualized sleep counseling increases sleep duration and reduces energy intake, according to a study published online Feb. 7 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Esra Tasali, M.D., from the University of Chicago, and colleagues conducted a single-center trial involving adults aged 21 to 40 years with a body mass index of 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m² and with a habitual sleep duration of less than 6.5 hours per night. Eighty participants were instructed to continue their daily routine activities without any prescribed diet or physical activity and were randomly assigned to an individualized sleep hygiene counseling session that was intent to extend their bedtime to 8.5 hours or to continue their habitual sleep.

The researchers found that in the sleep extension group versus control group, sleep duration was increased by approximately 1.2 hours per night. Compared with the control group, the sleep extension group had a significant decrease in energy intake (−270 kcal/day). There was an inverse correlation observed for change in sleep duration with change in energy intake (r = −0.41). The investigators found no significant treatment effect in total energy expenditure.

"The findings highlighted the importance of improving and maintaining adequate sleep duration as a public health target for obesity prevention and increasing awareness about the benefits of adequate sleep duration for healthy weight maintenance," the authors write.

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