As a mother, a lie-in can be difficult to come by (the term gold dust comes to mind). If it does happen, it will usually happen at the weekend when the kids are off school and/or you don’t have to go to work.
But it turns out that getting up early for the majority of the week and then having an extra couple of hours in bed for a day or two can actually be bad for your health.
While the relationship between erratic sleep patterns and poor health isn’t cause-and-effect, “social jetlag” (this is when there is a large difference in your sleep schedule on workdays and free days) is associated with certain health risks.
A study, the findings of which were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism and quoted on Web MD, discovered that when your sleep routine is disrupted, it can increase the risk of heart disease, obesity and diabetes.
Via giphy.com
The research looked at the sleeping and lifestyle habits of almost 450 men and women between the ages of 30 and 54, who worked at least 25 hours a week.
Eighty-five per cent of them slept longer on their days off. This in turn was found to have a negative impact on their cholesterol levels, waist size and BMI.
While we may well set the alarm this weekend, we’re not sure we’re going to be able to resist an extra few minutes under the duvet. Then again, we could always get up early and have a nap in the afternoon – they didn’t say anything about that!
