For women it seems that how much sleep they get may have an impact on how much they weigh.
According to a new study women who sleep 5 hours or less per night weigh more on average than those who sleep 7 hours.
Researchers from Ohio's Case Western Reserve University, followed nearly 70,000 women for 16 years and found that women who slept five or fewer hours a night were a third more likely to put on at least 33lbs (15kg) than sound sleepers during that time.
The study included 68,183 middle-aged women who were enrolled in the Nurses Health Study who were asked in 1986 about their typical night's sleep, and were then asked to report their weight every 2 years for 16 years.
On average, women who slept 5 hours or less per night weighed 5.4 pounds more at the beginning of the study than those sleeping 7 hours and gained an additional 1.6 pounds more over the next 10 years.
Lead researcher Sanjay Patel, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine, says while that may not sound very much, it is an average amount and some women gained much more than that.
Patel says even a small difference in weight can increase a person's risk of health problems such as diabetes and hypertension.
Dr. Patel says the study is by far the largest study to track the effect of sleep habits on weight gain over time and is the first to show reduced sleep increases the risk of gaining weight over time.
The researchers looked at the women's diets and exercise habits to see if they could account for part of the findings but found that appetite and diet do not account for the weight gain in women who sleep less and they found little difference in physical activity that could explain why women who slept less weighed more.
Dr. Patel suggests that sleeping less may affect changes in a person's basal metabolic rate and non-exercise associated thermogenesis, or NEAT, which refers to involuntary activity, such as fidgeting or standing instead of sitting.
It may be says Patel that if you sleep less, you move around around less too, and therefore burn up fewer calories.
The research was presented at the American Thoracic Society International Conference on May 23rd.
对于女性来说，睡眠的多少会影响她们体重的多少。
根据一项新的研究，每天睡眠不足五小时或是更少的女性比起那些睡眠七小时的女性平均来讲会更胖。
来自俄亥俄州的Case Western Reserve大学的研究人员研究了16年间70000女性，发现夜间睡眠5小时或更少的女性比睡眠正常（7小时）女性增重至少15kg的几率要高33%（三分之一）。
这个研究包括了在护士健康研究登记过的68183名中年女性，研究人员在1986年时调查她们夜间睡眠的情况，之后要求她们在十六年中每两年汇报一次她们的体重。
每晚睡眠不足五小时或更少的女性和那些睡眠保证七小时的女性相比，体重平均增加5.4磅，而且在之后的十年里又增加1.6磅。
主要研究员Sanjay Patel（医学博士，医学副教授）表示，虽然这个研究结果并不是很有说服力，但是它是一个平均的增长量而且部分女性体重增加远远超过该结果。
Patel表示，即使体重方面较小的差异也会增加健康问题的风险，比如患糖尿病和高血压。
Pate博士说该研究为目前为止最大的研究，即睡眠习惯对体重增加的影响，而且该研究也是首次表明睡眠不足会增加肥胖的风险。
研究人员观察了女性的饮食和运动习惯，目的是观察能否从饮食和运动方面解释部分原因，但是发现饮食和运动对于体力活动影响不大，而饮食和运动或许能解释为什么睡眠少会增加体重。
Patel博士表明睡眠少会影响基础代谢率和与非运动相联系的产热作用或叫做NEAT，NEAT涉及了一些自然的活动，比如紧张或站立而不是坐着。也就是说，如果睡眠少，运动就会少，于是就会燃烧较少的热量。
该研究发表在5月23日的美国胸科国际大会上。
编者按：本文由丁香园网友德德亦菲翻译。
编辑：西门吹血
