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Adding Sleep Intervention to Traditional Diet and Exercise Approach to Weight Loss

The rising obesity epidemic is a high priority public health issue. However, efforts to simply try to "eat less and exercise more" often lead to disappointing results. A potentially influential factor that may hinder weight loss is inadequate sleep, which is experienced by at least 25% of US adults and has been strongly linked to weight gain and obesity. The aim of this new study was to investigate whether improvement in sleep quantity and/or quality would increase successful weight loss and weight loss maintenance when added to a traditional weight loss approach of diet and exercise in overweight or obese adults with insomnia.

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Eligible Participants

  • Generally healthy adults, 18 years of age or older
  • Overweight or obese
  • Suffering from insomnia or chronic short sleep (measured at screening)

Study Design

Thirty overweight/obese adults were randomized to one of two treatment groups: Standard Diet and Physical Activity plus Sleep Improvement (D+PA+S), or Standard Diet and Physical Activity plus an Attention Control program (D+PA+AC) for 8 weeks. Both groups received identical interventions for reducing dietary energy intake and increasing physical activity. The D+PA+S group received additional instructional sessions based on cognitive behavioral therapy for improving sleep habits. The D+PA+AC group received an identical number of additional instructional sessions on topics unlikely to contribute to weight loss success beyond the primary D+PA component (e.g., global warming). Study participants completed clinic visits at the beginning and end of the study to assess changes in weight and parameters of sleep quality.

Conclusions

After 8 months both groups showed a significant weight loss from baseline, 4 kg in the sleep intervention group, and 5 kg in the attention-control group. In addition, the sleep-intervention group showed significant improvements in overall quality and quantity of sleep. However, the difference in weight loss between the two groups was not statistically different.

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