Skip to main content

Sleep Restriction Tied to Negative Cognitive Effects in Teens With Overweight, Obesity

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 22, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2024 -- Adolescents with overweight or obesity may be more vulnerable to negative cognitive effects following sleep restriction, according to a study published online May 20 in JAMA Neurology.

Lindsay M. Stager, from University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues examined the effects of adiposity and sleep on adolescent cognitive function. The analysis included 61 adolescents (mean age, 16.3 years; 31 with healthy weight and 30 with overweight or obesity) who completed two sleep conditions: adequate (mean duration, 8 hours, 54 minutes) and restricted (mean duration, 4 hours, 12 minutes).

The researchers found that restricted sleep predicted poorer global cognition scores (restricted mean, 98.0 versus adequate mean, 103.2), fluid cognition scores (restricted mean, 94.5 versus adequate mean, 102.0), and cognitive flexibility scores (restricted mean, 84.8 versus adequate mean, 92.8) for adolescents with overweight or obesity. Among adolescents with healthy weight, there were no differences. Following restricted sleep, adolescents with overweight or obesity also had poorer attention scores (mean, 80.0) versus adolescents with healthy weight (mean, 88.4). Following adequate sleep, there were no differences. Similar findings were seen for total body fat percentage.

"Improved sleep hygiene and duration in this group may positively impact their cognitive health," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2024

Read this next

Adiposity in Adulthood Linked to Adverse Cardiac Structure, Function

WEDNESDAY, July 17, 2024 -- Higher adiposity over adulthood is associated with adverse cardiac structure and function, according to a study published online July 16 in the...

Obesity Modifies Link Between Birth Weight, Metabolic Phenotypes

TUESDAY, July 16, 2024 -- Associations between lower birth weight (BW) and adverse metabolic phenotypes are more pronounced in children with obesity, according to a study...

Benzodiazepines Not Tied to Higher Dementia Risk in Older Adults

TUESDAY, July 16, 2024 -- Use of benzodiazepines is not associated with increased dementia risk in older adults, according to a study published online July 2 in BMC...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.