According to research, those who nap during the day for longer than 30 minutes appear to be more likely to be obese and have high blood pressure.
According to studies, those who take siestas of at least 30 minutes are more likely than those who don’t to have higher blood pressure, a higher body mass index, and other diseases linked to diabetes and heart disease.
Additionally, compared to people who did not siesta, those who took brief naps were less likely to exhibit elevated systolic blood pressure.
More than 3,000 adults from a Mediterranean community, where midday naps known as “siestas” are widespread, were evaluated in a new study by Brigham and Women’s Hospital researchers from Boston and published in the journal Obesity. The duration of siestas and their connection to metabolic syndrome and obesity were investigated by the researchers.
Siesta and obesity
In the Spanish province of Murcia, the researchers looked at data from 3,275 persons. At the University of Murcia, individuals’ baseline metabolic traits were assessed, and information about their naps and other lifestyle elements was gathered.
No siestas, shorter than 30 minutes, and more than 30 minutes were the different categories used to separate the subjects. The body mass index of the subjects who took longer naps was greater, and they were more likely to have metabolic syndrome (MetS) than those who did not.
The group that had a long nap had greater waist circumference, fasting glucose levels, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure values than the group that didn’t take a siesta.
In addition to greater energy consumption at lunch and smoking, longer siestas were linked to later nighttime eating and sleeping.
More study is required on the topic
The authors of the study acknowledged that it’s possible that some factors—rather than siestas per se—might be caused by obesity, particularly because abdominal obesity, which they refer to as its most harmful form, was found to be causally associated with napping in a previous analysis of data from the UK Biobank.
The link between siestas and health indices was found to be mediated by a number of statistically relevant lifestyle factors, according to the authors.
Scientists urge further investigation into whether a little siesta is preferable to a long one, especially for people who smoke, have bad eating or sleeping habits, or both.
