Adequate Sleep in Adolescents Reduces Obesity and Improves Cardiometabolic Health

In a cross-sectional study, researchers used objective measurements of sleep characteristics and quality to evaluate their effect on cardiometabolic risk and adiposity in adolescents. Sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and physical activity were measured using wrist actigraphy in 829 adolescents (52% girls; mean age, 13 years) who had been followed since birth as part of a mother-child study in Massachusetts. A metabolic risk score was determined based on waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, high density lipoprotein cholesterol level, triglyceride level, and insulin resistance. Higher scores indicated increased risk. Socioeconomic status, race, pubertal status, TV time, and diet were included in the analysis.

Median sleep duration wa…