This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on ISI (12)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Obesity  • Alert me on articles by topic

Neal D. Kohatsu, MD, MPH; Rebecca Tsai, MS; Terry Young, PhD; Rachel VanGilder, PhD; Leon F. Burmeister, PhD; Ann M. Stromquist, PhD; James A. Merchant, MD, DrPH

Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1701-1705.

Background  A growing body of epidemiological evidence suggests an association between short sleep duration and obesity. Recently, potential hormonal links have been observed that may account for the relationship. The possible connection between sleep duration and body mass index (BMI) has not been explored in rural populations. Rural populations are of interest because obesity rates are high and lifestyle patterns of nutrition, physical activity, work hours, and sleep may differ from those in urban and suburban populations. We conducted this study to determine whether short sleep duration is related to BMI and obesity in a rural population in southeast Iowa.

Methods  We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data collected in the Keokuk County Rural Health Cohort Study, 1999-2004. Study participants were from a population-based sample consisting of 990 employed adults in a rural community in southeastern Iowa. The main outcome measure was BMI. Multiple linear regression modeling was used to adjust for potential confounding variables.

Results  Self-reported sleep duration on weeknights was negatively correlated ( = –0.42; 95% confidence interval, –0.77 to –0.07) with higher BMI after adjusting for sex, age, educational achievement, physical job demand, household income, depressive symptoms, marital status, alcohol consumption, and snoring.

Conclusion  These data support an association between short sleep duration and higher BMI in this rural population, which is consistent with the relationship found in other settings.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Epidemiology (Drs Kohatsu and VanGilder and Ms Tsai), Biostatistics (Dr Burmeister), and Occupational and Environmental Health (Drs Stromquist and Merchant), College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City; and Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison (Dr Young). Dr Kohatsu is now with the California Department of Health Services, Sacramento. Dr VanGilder is now with Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Des Moines, Iowa.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Associations between Sleep Loss and Increased Risk of Obesity and Diabetes
KNUTSON and VAN CAUTER
Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 2008;1129:287-304.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Hormone Therapy, Dilemmas, Medical Decisions.
Schulkin
J Law Med Ethics 2008;36:73-88.
 

Sleep duration, general and abdominal obesity, and weight change among the older adult population of Spain
Lopez-Garcia et al.
Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 2008;87:310-316.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cross-sectional versus Prospective Associations of Sleep Duration with Changes in Relative Weight and Body Fat Distribution: The Whitehall II Study
Stranges et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2008;167:321-329.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Short Duration of Sleep and Unintentional Injuries among Adolescents in China
Lam and Yang
Am J Epidemiol 2007;166:1053-1058.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Obesity and workplace traumatic injury: does the science support the link?
Pollack and Cheskin
Inj. Prev. 2007;13:297-302.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Gender-Specific Associations of Short Sleep Duration With Prevalent and Incident Hypertension: The Whitehall II Study
Cappuccio et al.
Hypertension 2007;50:693-700.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Sleep and health: everywhere and in both directions.
Zee and Turek
Arch Intern Med 2006;166:1686-1688.
FULL TEXT