GOODNIGHT, MOON

Less Sleep Leads to Weight Gain

Study says you’ll pack on the pounds fast.

Excuse us, we’re going to go to bed now. While research has long existed that less sleep can lead to weight gain, a new study released on Monday has found that the results are immediate and dramatic—that just losing a few hours of sleep a few days in a row will lead to an immediate weight gain. Getting less than five or six hours as an adult can put you at a higher risk of being overweight, while children who get less than 10 hours of sleep are more likely to be overweight. In this study, University of Colorado researchers found that less sleep actually caused participants to burn more calories—but they ate much more, presumably to help stay awake.