Examining the Role of Sleep in Body Weight Regulation and Implications for Obesity Treatment: A Narrative Review.

Abstract

Despite significant public health efforts to counter the obesity epidemic, approximately 50% of US adults will have obesity by 2030. The cornerstone of obesity treatment is a behavioral intervention promoting negative energy balance via a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. Behavioral treatment also requires additional support to promote adherence to these recommended lifestyle changes. More recently, sleep has been recognized as an important component of body weight regulation due to its effects on physiological and behavioral determinants of energy balance. Therefore, sleep may represent a modifiable behavior to target during the behavioral treatment of obesity. This review summarizes existing clinical evidence on the influence of sleep on energy balance and body weight regulation in adults. The results of controlled laboratory studies as well as pragmatic clinical trials are reviewed. In addition, we identify existing gaps and future areas of research that are necessary to understand the role of sleep in behavioral treatments for obesity.