JAKARTA - Lack of sleep is often considered trivial, even though the impact can be more serious than just feeling tired. Various studies show that insufficient sleep duration is associated with an increased risk of obesity.
When the body lacks time to rest, the balance of hormones that regulate hunger can be disrupted so that a person tends to eat more than usual. This condition, if it continues, can trigger weight gain.
"When we are sleep-deprived, the body needs more energy. As a result, the hormones that trigger hunger increase, so we want to keep eating," said neurologist from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia - Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital (FKUI-RSCM), Astri Budikayanti.
Astri explained that lack of sleep not only causes fatigue, but can also affect the system that regulates hunger in the body. Hormonal imbalance due to lack of sleep makes a person feel hungry more often and be driven to consume food, especially high-calorie foods.
If this condition occurs continuously, excessive eating habits can increase the risk of weight gain to obesity. Therefore, maintaining adequate sleep time is one of the important steps in controlling body weight.
According to Astri, adults should sleep at least six hours every night, while the ideal duration is between seven and eight hours.
He also emphasized that the quality of sleep is just as important as its duration. During sleep, the body undergoes several phases that play a role in the recovery process.
In the early part of the night, the body usually enters a deep sleep phase that helps the brain recover after daily activities. Meanwhile, in the second half of the night, the body is more in the Rapid Eye Movement (REM) phase, which plays a role in strengthening memory and cognitive functions.
"If this sleep phase is disturbed, a person can wake up in a state of not being fresh or even feeling like they haven't slept," he explained.
Sleep quality disorders, continued Astri, can also affect a person's thinking, concentration, and memory.
Therefore, he appealed to the public to maintain a regular and consistent sleep pattern. Reducing the habit of staying up late and limiting the use of electronic devices before going to bed can also help improve the quality of rest at night.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
