Teens who need to lose weight should quit staying up so late: Study

After 4 weeks, teens on sleep plans increased their average sleep time by about 1.2 hours a night and lost an average of 2.1 kilograms

Obese teens who diet to lose weight may have more success if they also focus on getting enough rest, a small study suggests.

“Sleep deprivation may be associated with increased caloric intake, and decreased physical activity, resulting in obesity,” said senior study author Juan Manuel Malacara of the University of Guanajuato in Leon, Mexico.

To see if extra sleep might make it easier to lose weight, researchers asked 52 obese teens to eat 500 fewer calories per day than usual. Then, they chose 25 teens at random to follow a personalised sleep plan designed to help them get up to an extra