title: Change in sleep duration and visceral fat accumulation over 6 years in adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between change in sleep duration and long-term visceral adiposity change in adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  A longitudinal analysis was conducted on 293 participants, aged 18-65 years, followed for a mean of 6.0 ± 0.9 years. At baseline and year 6, sleep duration was self-reported and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) assessed using computed tomography. Multivariable modeling was used to examine the association between change in sleep duration and VAT change over the 6-year time period, with adjustments made for age, sex, change in BMI, personal characteristics, energy intake, and physical activity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants gained an average of 19.2 ± 37.3 cm(2) in VAT over the follow-up period. Baseline short (≤6 h/day) and long (≥9 h/day) sleepers gained significantly more VAT than those reporting sleeping 7-8 hours a night (23.4 and 20.2 cm(2) vs. 14.1 cm(2) , respectively, P < 0.05). Using continuous data, we observed that the change in sleep duration was not associated with VAT change. However, a change in sleep duration from ≤6 h/day to 7-8 h/day was associated with 6 cm(2) fewer VAT gain after multivariable adjustment (P < 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A spontaneous change in sleep duration (from a short to an adequate duration) is independently and inversely associated with long-term VAT accumulation.
authors.affiliation: Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Chaput
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bouchard
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tremblay
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult