Sleep Duration and its Association with Physical Attributes in Young Malaysian Adults

Young adults experience a variety of biological and social developments that interfere with their sleeping routine resulting in the disruption of Chronotype leading to inadequate sleep. Hence, lack of enough sleep triggers metabolic as well as hormonal changes that could increase appetite and cravings causing a decrease in insulin sensitivity that may pose a risk for obesity and weight gain. Thus, the prevalence of obesity and overweight amongst young adults is rapidly increasing despite numerous exercise campaigns necessitating the need to investigate the connection between sleep duration and its association with anthropometric variables in the samples of young adults. A total of 134 young adults (43 males, 89 females; age 20.02±0.96) were assessed on basic anthropometrics tests and completed 14 days record of daily sleep duration. Cluster analysis was used to group the samples based on their sleep duration while the Mann-Whitney U test was employed to ascertain the differences in physical characteristics between the samples and a Multivariate logistic regression model was used to check the potential effects of confounders (physical activity, gender, and age) variables toward sleep patterns prediction. It was demonstrated that a shorter duration of sleep is associated with higher anthropometric status. Essentially, upon adjusting for confounding factors in multivariate analysis, it became clear that only BMI contributed to sleep duration. Furthermore, univariate analysis revealed that the hip circumference and waist-to-height ratio of inadequate sleepers were higher compared to that of adequate sleepers. Moreover, a good proportion of the samples examined in the study were unable to clock the minimum recommended hours of daily sleep duration per day and none of the confounders had any significant effects on sleep pattern in the study population. It is therefore postulated from the findings of the current investigation that an inadequate sleeping routine may intensify the risk of obesity and weight gain. Thus, public health campaigns should not only be directed towards maintaining regular exercise but also should incorporate adequate sleep, especially amongst adolescents to avert the increasing rise of obesity and overweight globally.