Obesity and sleep disturbances, particularly insomnia and short sleep duration, are increasingly recognized as interrelated public health challenges. Both conditions affect a significant portion of the population and are associated with various adverse health outcomes. Although some studies have identified links between inadequate sleep and weight gain, inconsistencies in findings can often be attributed to methodological limitations and unexplored influences that mediate or moderate these relationships. Understanding the mechanisms that connect sleep disturbances with obesity is essential for developing targeted interventions to alleviate both physical and mental health burdens associated with these conditions.
This Research Topic aims to enhance our understanding of the connections between insomnia, short sleep duration, and obesity, with the goal of informing effective strategies for weight management and sleep improvement. Specifically, we seek to explore how treating sleep disturbances can influence weight control, including the prevention of weight gain and facilitation of weight loss in individuals with obesity. By uncovering these important dynamics, we hope to contribute to better prevention and treatment approaches for these intertwined health issues.
To gather further insights into this multifaceted issue, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
- Investigations into behavioral, physiological, environmental, psychological, and genetic factors involved in the relationships between insomnia, short sleep, and obesity.
- Studies that differentiate insomnia with and without short sleep duration while controlling for confounding sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and circadian rhythm disorders.
- Research employing detailed measures of weight/obesity, including central adiposity, and both subjective and objective sleep assessments.
- Behavioral intervention studies aimed at addressing insomnia and short sleep to examine their effects on weight loss and prevention of weight gain.
We welcome all article formats, including outcome-focused intervention studies, reviews and meta-analyses, and protocol papers. We encourage a range of research designs, including cross-sectional and experimental studies. A particular emphasis is placed on longitudinal studies that can help to establish causality in the relationship between sleep disturbances and weight, and on large-scale controlled trials with adequate power to examine sleep disorder subgroups, particularly insomnia with and without short duration, and insufficient sleep.
Topic Editor Lenise Kim is employed by Apnimed Inc. The other Topic Editors report no competing interests related to this Research Topic.
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Clinical Trial
Community Case Study
Conceptual Analysis
Curriculum, Instruction, and Pedagogy
Data Report
Editorial
FAIR² Data
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
