Sleep debt and obesity

Figures & data

Table I. Summary of principal systematic reviews examining the association between sleep duration and obesity in child and in adult populations. This table shows that almost all the studies performed in children found an association between short sleep duration and obesity, but not in adults, especially for prospective (1/7) or longitudinal (8/13) studies.

	Total number of studies analyzed (n)		Positive results/n
References of systematic reviews	Children studies	Adults studies	Children	Adults
Patel and Hu, 2008 (19)	n = 13	n = 23	13/13	17/23
Marshall et al., 2008 (20)	n = 15	n = 21	14/15	13/21
Van Cauter and Knutson, 2008 (21)	n = 7	n = 30	7/7	25/30
Nielsen et al., 2011 (prospective studies) (22)	n = 8	n = 7	8/8	1/7
Magee and Hale, 2012 (longitudinal studies) (23)	n = 7	n = 13	7/7	8/13

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the possible biological and behavioral pathways linking sleep debt and obesity.

Patel SR, Hu FB. Short sleep duration and weight gain: a systematic review. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008;16:643–53.

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Marshall NS, Glozier N, Grunstein RR. Is sleep duration related to obesity?A critical review of the epidemiological evidence. Sleep Med Rev. 2008;12:289–98.

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Van Cauter E, Knutson KL. Sleep and the epidemic of obesity in children and adults. Eur J of Endocrinol. 2008;159:S59–66.

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Nielsen LS, Danielsen KV, Sorensen IA. Short sleep duration as possible cause of obesity: critical analysis of epidemiological evidence. Obes Rev. 2011;12:78–92.

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Magee L, Hale L. Longitudinal associations between sleep duration and subsequent weight gain: a systematic review. Sleep Med Rev. 2012;16:231–41.

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