Prolonged Sleep Restriction May Increase Body Weight - Takeaways - MDSpire

Prolonged Sleep Restriction May Increase Body Weight

In a pooled analysis of two randomized crossover trials, reducing nightly sleep by about 1.5 hours for 6 weeks was associated with modest increases in body weight and waist circumference without measurable changes in body composition.

  • By

  • Andrea Surnit

  • July 9, 2026

  • 3 min

Share

  • 1

    Reducing nightly sleep by 1.5 hours for 6 weeks may lead to modest weight gain among adults at elevated cardiometabolic risk.

  • 2

    The study involved 95 adult participants who habitually slept at least 7 hours per night and were assigned to sleep restriction and adequate sleep periods.

  • 3

    Sleep restriction resulted in a mean increase of 0.45 kg in body weight and 0.52 cm in waist circumference compared to adequate sleep.

  • 4

    Participants engaged in 17 more minutes of sedentary behavior during the sleep restriction period, with higher fasting leptin concentrations observed.

  • 5

    The study had limitations, including a brief intervention duration and a small sample size, which may affect generalizability and subgroup analyses.

Original Source(s)

Prolonged Sleep Restriction May Increase Body Weight

  • by Andrea Surnit

  • July 9, 2026

Related Content

How Does Social Media Influence Health Decisions?

National survey findings suggest many US adults report making health decisions based on social media despite widespread concerns about the accuracy of health information shared to the platforms.

More Physicians Enter Politics

Viewpoint explores how more physician-candidates could reshape both public service and public trust in medicine.

ACP Ranks Obesity Drug Options

A living clinical guideline outlines a treatment hierarchy for selected pharmacologic therapies in patients with obesity and selected patients with overweight.