The Relationship between Sleep, Obesity, and Metabolic Health in Adolescents - a Review

Abstract

In this literature review, we discuss the importance of adequate sleep and the various effects of suboptimal sleep on weight maintenance and metabolic health specifically for adolescents. Two major contributors to adolescents experiencing decreased sleep duration and quality, and thus increasing the risk for developing metabolic syndrome in adolescence as well as later in adulthood, are increased electronic screen time particularly at night and early school start times. The less time adolescents spend sleeping, the less quality sleep they obtain, and the greater the disruption of endocrine hormone function. As another consequence, adolescents are more prone to making poor food choices, from choosing relatively nutrient-poor foods to consuming excess calories without necessarily increasing their energy expenditure. These choices put adolescents at greater risk for becoming obese throughout their lifespan.

Keywords: adolescents; body mass index (BMI); obesity; sleep; sleep deficiency.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.