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Napping and Obesity in Adults - What do we Know?
1Department Primary Care and Population Health, University College London, Royal Free Campus, London, NW32PF, UK. g.wannamethee@ucl.ac.uk.
Purpose Of Review:
To review the evidence on the relationship between daytime napping and obesity.
Recent Findings:
There is concern that napping may be harmful to metabolic health. Prospective studies have shown long time daytime napping (> 1 h) is associated with increased diabetes risk which may be partly associated with obesity. Evidence from numerous cross-sectional studies and meta-analyses of cross-sectional studies have shown that long time napping (> 1 h) but not short time napping is associated with increased risk of obesity, and this is seen worldwide. Inference regarding the nature of association from cross-sectional studies is limited; it is suggested the association is bidirectional. Prospective studies on the association between daytime napping and obesity are few and results unclear. Large longitudinal studies integrating daytime napping duration and night-time sleep behaviour and detailed information on lifestyle influences is needed to help elucidate further the associations of long time napping with obesity.
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