Effects of acute and chronic sleep deprivation on eating behaviour
Background: Experimental studies consistently demonstrate that acute sleep depri- vation increases food consumption. Moreover, epidemiological studies and meta- analyses show that children with short sleep have twice the probability of suffering from obesity than normal sleepers. Similar results are reported in adolescents, while in adults' results are heterogeneous. Habitual sleep patterns, however, have not been taken into account to date, yet they may explain this heterogeneity.