New study findings show, long-term consequences for body weight and metabolism on even losing 30 minutes of sleep per day on weekdays.

A paper presented at ENDO 2015, the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in San Diego reveals as little as 30 minutes a day sleep debt can have significant effects on obesity and insulin resistance. Because of social and work commitments, people often accumulate sleep debt during weekdays and make up for lost sleep over the weekend. But week day sleep debt may lead to long-term metabolic disruption, which may promote the onset of, or increases the progression of, type 2 diabetes mellitus.

“Sleep loss is widespread in modern society, but only in the last decade have we realized its metabolic consequences," said Professor Shahrad Taheri, (MBBS, PhD, Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, in Doha.) Previous studies have shown that short sleep duration is associated with obesity and diabetes. Our findings suggest that avoiding sleep debt could have positive benefits for waistlines and metabolism and that incorporating sleep into lifestyle interventions for weight loss and diabetes might improve their success."

Professor Taheri and his colleagues recruited 522 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus in the Early Activity in Diabetes trial and randomized them into one of three groups: usual care, physical activity intervention, or diet and physical activity intervention.

Participants completed 7-day sleep diaries and calculated their weekday sleep debt. At baseline, the researchers recorded their height and weight to determine obesity status, measured their waist circumference for central adiposity, and analyzed their fasting blood samples for insulin sensitivity. At baseline, compared with participants who had no week day sleep debt, those who had week day sleep debt were 72% more likely to be obese, and by the 6-month mark, week day sleep debt was significantly associated with obesity and insulin resistance.