Does Less Sleep Make You Less Healthy?

Not getting enough sleep at night has been proven by this study to cause people to gain weight or be obese compared to people that get enough sleep on a nightly basis. There is no magic number of how much sleep you need on a nightly basis to stay healthy. Sleep needs differ from person to person. This study focuses on studying 1600 people in the United Kingdom. For each person records of weight were recorded and each person had blood samples taken. The test and samples where used to form the result of the survey.

On average people who slept 6 hours a night had waists was 1 inch thicker than the people who slept 9 hours a night. People who had less sleep according to the results weighed more and had reduced levels of HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol) compared to the people who got over 9 hours of sleep a night. The surprise finding was that researchers found no link between no sleep or lack of sleep and a unhealthy diet. So diet wasn’t a factor.  Statistics show that since 1980 the number of obese people in the world have doubled. In conclusion people need the right amount of sleep to stay healthy. Healthy sleep patterns along with a healthy diet can fight obesity.

Key Points:

  • 1The researchers don’t know how much sleep a person needs, but it is recommended seven to nine hours.
  • 2Not only did people weigh more who got less sleep, they also had less good cholesterol.
  • 3The researchers did not find a direct reason why people who slept less were larger, but it does show there is a connection.


The waists of those who slept an average of six hours a night were more than an inch larger than those who slept nine hours a night, the finding showed
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HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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