Experimental sleep curtailment causes wake-dependent increases in 24-h energy expenditure as measured by whole-room indirect calorimetry.

BACKGROUND

Epidemiologic evidence has shown a link between short sleep and obesity. Clinical studies suggest a role of increased energy intake in this relation, whereas the contributions of energy expenditure (EE) and substrate utilization are less clearly defined.

OBJECTIVE

Our aim was to investigate the effects of sleep curtailment on 24-h EE and respiratory quotient (RQ) by using whole-room indirect calorimetry under fixed-meal conditions.

DESIGN

Ten females aged 22-43 y with a BMI (in kg/m²) of 23.4-27.5 completed a randomized, crossover study. Participants were studied under short- (4 h/night) and habitual- (8 h/night) sleep conditions for 3 d, with a 4-wk washout period between visits. Standardized weight-maintenance meals were served at 0800, 1200, and 1900 with a snack at 1600. Measures included EE and RQ during the sleep episode on day 2 and continuously over 23 h on day 3.

RESULTS

Short compared with habitual sleep resulted in significantly higher (± SEM) 24-h EE (1914.0 ± 62.4 compared with 1822.1 ± 43.8 kcal; P = 0.012). EE during the scheduled sleep episode (0100-0500 and 2300-0700 in short- and habitual-sleep conditions, respectively) and across the waking episode (0800-2300) were unaffected by sleep restriction. RQ was unaffected by sleep restriction.

CONCLUSIONS

Short compared with habitual sleep is associated with an increased 24-h EE of 92 kcal (5%)--lower than the increased energy intake observed in prior sleep-curtailment studies. This finding supports the hypothesis that short sleep may predispose to weight gain as a result of an increase in energy intake that is beyond the modest energy costs associated with prolonged nocturnal wakefulness.