Roles of sleep and circadian rhythms in the nutritional management of obesity 2015

This two day meeting will bring together a unique combination of scientists, clinicians and health care practitioners from the fields of human nutrition, sleep medicine and chronobiology, to examine and debate the importance and emerging roles of sleep and circadian rhythms in the origins and nutritional management of obesity.

Obesity-related disease underlies hundreds of thousands of premature deaths worldwide. Obesity originates from an imbalance in the intake and expenditure of energy and specifically from the passive over consumption of energy from food and a sedentary lifestyle which leads to an increased storage of body fat and weight gain.

There is an emerging body of evidence to suggest that partial sleep deprivation may contribute to the development of obesity by influencing both the amount and type of food that we eat through effects on appetite and food choice. There is also compelling evidence to suggest that obesity may develop from a mismatch between the timing of food intake throughout the day and circadian rhythms associated with the regulation of energy balance.