Once again researchers have called into question the practice of sleeping in late on weekends to make up for lost sleep on workdays, Forbes reports.
The researchers concluded that — in this community sample and after adjusting for race/ethnicity, income, education, employment, sleep duration, and insomnia — social jet lag was associated with poorer health, heart disease, worse mood, and increased sleepiness and fatigue.
With every hour of social jet lag respondents were 22% more likely to report that their overall health was “good” instead of “excellent” and 28% more likely to say their health was “fair or poor” instead of “excellent.”
“There are a lot different health outcomes that appear to be affected by shifting sleep, but we don’t fully understand [the reasons] for this,” said Forbush, an undergraduate research assistant at the University of Arizona Sleep and Health Research Program. Michael A Grandner, PhD, who directs the program, was senior author of the study.
