How Light Is Your Room, Fatty?

Mr Jones

Mr Jones

Mr Jones

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Obviously a little tongue in cheek but...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27617615

BBC said:
A team at the Institute of Cancer Research in London found women had larger waistlines if their bedroom was "light enough to see across" at night.

However, they caution there is not enough evidence to advise people to buy thicker curtains or turn off lights.

The study of 113,000 women was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

The women were asked to rate the amount of light in their bedrooms at night as:

Light enough to read
Light enough to see across the room, but not read
Light enough to see your hand in front of you, but not across the room
Too dark to see your hand or you wear a mask
Their answers were compared to several measures of obesity. Body Mass Index, waist-to-hip ratio and waist circumference were all higher in women with lighter rooms.
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I hope people reading the article also noted

BBC said:
However, they caution there is not enough evidence to advise people to buy thicker curtains or turn off lights.
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I won't be surprise if this ends up on the tabloids and people start turning their room into a gothic den.

And just to throw a curve ball into this link, what if obese people are adapted to see better in the dark, essentially, everyone's room is of roughly the same luminosity but fat people see better, thus percieved as brighter?

The survey wasn't quantitative, the answers were subjective.

Afterall, one needs better eye sight to find the last piece of hobnob in the room.
 
Might have some link to melatonin, which is linked to both sleep and hunger (ever thought you were really hungry, made loads of food, and turned out to only be tired?).

Lighter rooms might mean worse sleep, messing up maltonin production, thus impacting hunger levels.

/nophd
 
I'd have personally thought any possible correlation would spring from how well people are sleeping at night. I don't know any science of the situation, but I'd expect those in darker rooms were getting a better quality of sleep than those in lighter rooms, and that somehow quality of sleep in part affects weight.

Edit: Interestingly, an old flat I used to live in with an ex was really light all the time. She was of a 'larger' build, whereas I'm lean and very healthy.

Also, I wrote this on the toilet.
 
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Arsonist said:
I'd have personally thought any possible correlation would spring from how well people are sleeping at night. I don't know any science of the situation, but I'd expect those in darker rooms were getting a better quality of sleep than those in lighter rooms, and that somehow quality of sleep in part affects weight.

Also, I wrote this on the toilet.
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Well even ignoring the melatonin angle, being tired will make the body prompt you for an energy source, so carb cravings probably rise when you are tired.
 
arknor said:
who paid their for this study lol.. and why is it being done at the Institute of Cancer Research
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Obesity is linked to several cancers. Namely digestive system cancers...

Sleeping in a non-darkened room, or even just with the odd light source (passing car/train/alarm clock) will disturb your sleep and make you tired.

Being tired dampens your mood; ~depresses~ you slightly. This in itself increases cortisol levels and makes you hungry and retain lipids (fat).
 
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RedvGreen said:
Obesity is linked to several cancers. Namely digestive system cancers...

Sleeping in a non-darkened room, or even just with the odd light source (passing car/train/alarm clock) will disturb your sleep and make you tired.

Being tired dampens your mood; ~depresses~ you slightly. This in itself increases cortisol levels and makes you hungry and retain lipids (fat).
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I always have a 2ft gap in my curtains.
I live near a busy road and the car headlights illuminate part of the ceiling as they drive past.
Also my bedroom walls are white , my bedroom furniture is white.
can't say I have any problems sleeping and I'd wager a poor nights sleep is the very last thing making people fat.
 
This could make sense yes but so could a million other things.

I assume they must have a light dimmer, as last time I checked it gets pitch dark at night.

If they do have a dimmer it just shows an aspect of their personality as in, too scared to sleep in the dark, they have something on their mind or a past experience is making them scared and hence they eat or drink to much too comfort themselves.
 
I blacked out my room,

I sleep a HELL of a lot better and have wayyyyy less fatigue during the day.

Light pollution interrupts sleep cycles, i'm not fat but I did it for productivity reasons. It definitely helped.
 
jsmoke said:
I assume they must have a light dimmer, as last time I checked it gets pitch dark at night.
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That's a heck of a random leap of logic!

It is rarely 'pitch' black at night. A full moon makes it pretty bright out on it's own.

I live in London, perma-street lights means it is NEVER pitch black. Blackout curtains/blinds are the only way to roll.
 
Baron C said:
Smell..pfft!
I use echo location
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uW0txwe.jpg


:p
 
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