‘Catch-up’ sleep-ins won’t undo daily shortfall

Catching up on missed sleep over the weekend won’t undo the impact a lack of weekday sleep has on the body, new research says.

A study from the University of Colorado Boulder has confirmed ‘‘catch-up’’ sleep on Saturday and Sunday does not ‘‘counterbalance the health side-effects of sleep loss during the week’’.

The findings were published in the journal Current Biology today.

Researchers wanted to find out whether the common practice of skimping on sleep during the week and then catching up over the weekend provided any benefit.

Professor Kenneth Wright, of the University of Colorado Boulder, said the study showed the behaviour wasn’t an adequate substitute for a regular sleeping pattern.

In the study, one group slept for nine hours, and another for five hours over nine nights. A third group slept for five hours each week night before two days where they could sleep as much as they wanted. They then returned to a five-hour sleep cycle.

For those in the second and third groups, their insufficient sleep led to a rise in after-dinner snacking and weight gain.

The third group, whose members could sleep as much as they wanted on the weekend, slept an average of an hour longer.

However, when they returned to their reduced sleep days, they ate more after dinner and their weight rose. ‘‘Our findings show that muscle and liver-specific insulin sensitivity were worse in subjects who had weekend recovery sleep.

‘‘This . . . further shows that weekend recovery sleep is not likely to be an effective sleep-loss countermeasure.’’ Insulin sensitivity was a way to assess how well someone regulated their blood sugar. The National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.