Is The Secret To Weight Loss An Early Bedtime? Study Links Late Night Owls To Weight Gain

Is there a secret that skinny people aren't telling us? Is it that they go to bed earlier than most? A new study from the University of California, Berkeley found that teenagers who have regular late bedtimes are especially susceptible to weight gain.

Researchers at the Berkeley Sleep and Mood Research Clinic analyzed 3,300 teens' and adults' sleep schedules over five years for the study, according to MSN.com.

They found that for every extra hour that teens stayed awake, they would gain about 2.1 points on their body mass index (BMI).

The researchers also found that teens were still susceptible to weight gain if they stayed up late and slept in later the next day.

In other words, if teens stayed up late, they were more likely to gain weight.

"Obesity is obviously growing among adolescents and adults, and there's also an epidemic of lack of sleep and later bedtime preference in teens," the study's lead author Lauren Asarnow, a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Berkeley, told CBS News. "There's been some literature looking at the relationship [between] late bedtimes and weight gain cross-sectionally, but no one's ever looked at what happens long-term."

According to News Max, the reason late bedtimes and BMI are linked may be due to a combination of both metabolic and behavioral patterns.

Going to bed late can shift the body's circadian rhythm, and eating habits are also prone to change.

"If you're staying up late you're more likely to be eating junk food late at night," Asarnow said. "People who stay up late are also less likely to eat breakfast and breakfast skipping is associated with weight gain."

Early to bed, early to rise - and you might just be able to fit into those pants again. 

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weight gain
bedtime
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