Study: The effects of sleep restriction in cognitive function and obesity in teens

Results of the study concluded that participants with a total body fat percentage above 42 percent were more susceptible to experience a decline in their cognitive abilities after only one night of poor sleep.A bad night of sleep can make it hard to get up in the morning and can cause the mid-afternoon slump to hit even harder. A recent study from researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham published in Journal of the American Medicine Association Neurology showed that body mass index and total body fat percentage affect how a poor night of sleep will impact a teenager's level of cognitive functioning.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends teenagers ages 13-18 get eight to 10 hours of sleep per night. Late night athletic practices and other extracurriculars mixed with early morning school bells can cause poor sleep to be a pervasive problem among adolescents. The study, "Effect of Sleep Restriction on Adolescent Cognition by Adiposity," led by graduate student Lindsay Stager, Ph.D., and Aaron Fobian, Ph.D., associate professor in the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, found that teenagers with overweight or obesity are more sensitive to poor sleep than those with healthy weight.

The randomized trial monitored the sleep of 61 adolescents ages 14-19 years. On one night, participants were instructed to achieve an adequate amount of sleep for an average of eight hours and 54 minutes; but on another night, researchers restricted their sleep to an average of four hours and 12 minutes. The sleep conditions were completed in a random order by all participants. Each morning, the team of researchers used the National Institutes of Health cognitive toolbox to assess participants' global and fluid cognition, cognitive flexibility, working and episodic memory, and attention and processing speed, each of which is used for normal activities such as academic performance, driving, social interactions, decision-making and mood, among many other daily experiences.

Results of the study concluded that participants with a total body fat percentage above 42 percent were more susceptible to experience a decline in their cognitive abilities after only one night of poor sleep.

Aaron Fobian, Ph.D.
Photography: Ian Logue

"Adolescents with elevated adiposity were impacted by just one night of short sleep," Fobian said. "Our study suggests that adolescents with higher body fat are more sensitive to poor sleep than those with healthy weight."

While trial results showed the impact adiposity has in cognitive functioning with restricted sleep, the results showed no significant differences when the participants were adequately rested, regardless of their body fat percentage. The finding stresses the importance that all teenagers need adequate sleep, regardless of their body fat, and UAB researchers suggest that parents and guardians can help.

"Parents can support their teenagers by helping them maintain a regular sleep schedule with consistent wake times throughout the week and a maximum shift in wake time of two hours on the weekend," Stager said. "Parents can help their teens by supporting them to reduce media use before bedtime and stop use of all electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime."

To learn more on improving your sleep health from UAB experts, click here.

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