Is too little sleep contributing to the nation's obesity problem? Research conducted at the University of Chicago by Karine Spiegel, PhD and Eve Van Cauter, PhD, shows that sleep duration is associated with human leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that plays a role in balancing signals for calorie intake with energy expenditure, possibly making you feel like you need to eat more and potentially leading to weight gain.

In the study, eleven healthy 22-year-old men spent 16 consecutive nights in a sleep laboratory, including three nights with an eight hour bedtime, six nights with a four hour bedtime and seven nights with a 12 hour bedtime. When sleep was restricted from 12 hour bedtimes to four hour bedtimes, the study showed maximum leptin levels were 26% lower.

According to NSF's 2002 Sleep in America Poll, 15% of Americans are getting less than 6 hours of sleep on weeknights. With so many "short sleepers" and with obesity emerging as such a great public health problem, this study's link between sleep duration and obesity suggests a need for further research in this area. Concerned you aren't getting enough sleep? Keep a sleep diary for one or two weeks and get more insight into your sleep.

More resources:

• Read the abstract from the study
• Read about obesity and sleep
• Learn more about obesity prevention
• Help yourself to a good night's sleep

As we take to the highway over the Thanksgiving weekend, millions of our fellow Americans will join us. Some will be coming off the night shift. Others will have been up all night preparing for the holiday and many will be exhausted by untreated sleep disorders. All of them will be at high risk of falling asleep at the wheel, injuring or killing themselves, their passengers, or you. There are several things you can do to help prevent such tragedies. Please get enough sleep before you get behind the wheel and look out for the many other drivers who will not. In addition, please consider making a tax-deductible year-end contribution to NSF's campaign to stop drowsy driving. Simply print out the contribution form, and send it with your check today. Also, visit our drowsy driving web site. Refer your entire address book to this important site and its drowsy driving prevention tips. Ask your employer and other organizations to link it to their own web sites.

Fans of The Simpsons may think this story sounds familiar. Only this time when employees of the Entergy power plant fell asleep on the job, it was no laughing matter. According to Inside NRC, "the senior reactor operator dozed off somewhere between 4 and 5 a.m. The operator, who served as the control room supervisor, was scheduled to work from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m." Although it is unclear whether the employee was fired or left voluntarily, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took the situation very seriously. After a two month probe they found the incident to be an "isolated" case rather than a "pervasive" problem.

Can't stay awake on the job? Here are some handy resources:

• Learn the sleep Strategies for Shift Workers
• Read Helping Yourself to a Good Night's Sleep
• Visit Drowsy Driving.org

A three-day course starting Friday, February 18, 2005 at the Amelia Island Plantation Resort will feature top sleep researchers and clinicians, including Drs. Mindell, Carroll, Gozal, Dahl, Anders, Ferber, Goetting, G. Rosen, Keenan, Lebourgeoise, Wolfson, Hunt, Sheldon and Pelayo. Titled, "Pediatric Sleep Medicine Priorities for Research, Patient Care, Policy and Education," the conference brings together a multi-disciplinary group of thought leaders involved in pediatric sleep medicine. Brown Medical School designates this conference for a maximum of 10 category 1 credits towards the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Saint Joseph's University also designates this for a maximum of 10 credits. For more information please email cme@brown.edu. And feel free to refer your contacts to NSF's Children and Sleep website

According to sleep experts, teens need at least 8.5 - 9.25 hours of sleep each night, compared to an average of seven to nine hours each night for most adults. Their internal biological clocks also keep them awake later in the evening and keep them sleeping later in the morning. However, many schools begin classes early in the morning, when a teenager's body wants to be asleep. With their great need for sleep teens have, getting up to catch a school bus would mean getting to sleep by 9:00 p.m. which even if possible is not practical for many - meaning that too many teens go to school too sleepy to learn. Read all ten of our Sleep Myths and learn more about teen sleep and school start times and Teens & Sleep.

The Comfort Inn gets credit for truly caring about your sleep quality. One recent guest found this note on her pillow, "They are found in many shapes and sizes, what one guest loves, another despises, fat, thin, hard, soft, all of these we keep, so we can provide a very sound sleep! If you like one different than the one you got, just call the front desk and I'll be there on the spot!"

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This update on the world of sleep is provided by the National Sleep Foundation. To provide comments or suggestions regarding NSF Alert or our Web site, send them to nsf@sleepfoundation.org. To sign up for NSF Alert or to receive NSF Alert at an additional e-mail address, please use this form to sign up.