Sleep Disorders, Stereotypes and Fitness

From Joe: Can your own stereotypes cause you to misunderstand your weight and fitness issues?

When the causal network of a medical disorder is poorly understood, social stereotypes readily come into action. Recently, for example, some Chicago sports commentators fretted that Bulls star Derrick Rose’s ulcers signaled that he had become too emotionally intense. The ulcers-are-caused-by-stress stereotype had gone into high gear. It took a few days for the relationship between ulcers and bacteria to make its way to the public.

Lifehacker Whitson Gordon reminds us that sleep deprivation – and, by implication, insomnia – can lead to heavier eating:

If you eat a little more than you’d like to, getting more sleep at night might help curb your appetite… Researchers at Columbia University found that people actually consume more food when they’re sleep-deprived—nearly 300 calories worth, which is enough to “lead to rapid and robust weight gain” if maintained … Most of the extra calories came from high-fat foods like ice cream or fast food, and the effect was greater for women than for men. [Lifehacker]

The relationships between sleep disorders, physical fitness and obesity are complicated and poorly understood. This creates ideal circumstances for stereotypes to come into play as you try to understand your own fitness or weight problem.

Even your health care providers can be misled by stereotypes. Some cases of sleep apnea go undiagnosed for years because the patients are otherwise physically fit and not overweight: Their providers are accustomed to use obesity as a possible marker for sleep apnea (Might this be a fat-people-get-apnea stereotype?) and the proper diagnosis of sleep disorder is overlooked.

If you are dealing with persistent fitness or weight problems, be sure you include information about your sleep patterns in your fitness journal. An unrecognized sleep disorder might be affecting you more than you realize!