Study: Lack of sleep leads to weight gain

ATLANTA, March 25 (UPI) -- A U.S. study says people who don't get enough sleep tend to overeat and pig out on fast food, leading to putting on the pounds.

"If you are trying to watch your weight, it's a good thing not to be sleep deprived," said Marie Pierre St. Onge of the New York Obesity Research Center, the author of the study released Wednesday at the American Heart Association conference in Atlanta.

Her study followed 26 people for two six-day stretches. During the first period, they slept 9 hours a night; during the second, they slept for just 4 hours nightly, the New York Daily News reported.

In the stretch where they slept less, they consumed an average of 300 more calories than when they were well rested, the study found.

Sleep-deprived women were at most risk of overeating, consuming 328 additional calories compared with the 13 men in the study who consumed an extra 262 calories.

The study found high-fat foods were the favorite of those sacrificing sleep, Gannett News Service reported.

"Ice cream stood out as the preferred food during the sleep-deprived state," St. Onge said.