Large-scale study of anonymized data from Fitbit users finds adults with obesity sleep less, with more variability Wearable devices give scientists a powerful new tool for sleep studies.
September 14, 2020
LA JOLLA, CA Obese adults sleep an average of 15 minutes less per night than those who are not obese, according to a new study of anonymized data from more than 100,000 Fitbit users conducted by scientists at the Scripps Research Translational Institute and UC San Diego.
The landmark sleep study adds to a growing base of scientific evidence on the relationship between sleep and obesity. And although the retrospective study could not establish causal connections, its results are consistent with other findings that suggest insufficient sleep and obesity make up a vicious cycle: inadequate sleep promotes obesity, while obesity tends to worsen sleep quality.
The scientists, whose findings appear September 14 in JAMA Internal Medicine, examined de-identified data from 120,522 Fitbit users, covering a median of 256 nights per user. They found that people with a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or more the clinical definition of obesity slept 6.62 hours per night on average, about 15 minutes less than the average 6.87 hours per night for those with a BMI under 30.
The study also hints that consistent sleeping patterns might be as important as sleeping longer. The high-BMI Fitbit users tended to not only sleep less than the lower-BMI group, but also had slightly more night-to-night variation in their sleep.
We observed in this dataset that some people consistently got the same amount of sleep night-to-night while others had far more variable sleep, says study co-lead author Stuti Jaiswal, MD, PhD, assistant professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research. This variability may be important for overall health.
Obesity is a modern epidemic implicated in a host of other diseases. More than 40 percent of adult Americans are now considered obese, compared with about 30 percent two decades ago and about 10 percent in 1960. The complex condition promotes type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke and certain cancers, among other health conditions. Thus, preventing obesity could have tremendous public health benefits and getting people to sleep better is one potential strategy for doing that.
For the new study, sleep duration and variability were measured using de-identified data from Fitbit devices that track movement, heart rate and other health-related factors. Some of the devices also have a sleep-tracking function that uses movement and pulse data to derive estimates of the time spent in different sleep stages.
Fitbit devices and other wearable technologies have opened the door to large-scale scientific studies that were challenging or impossible using traditional clinical means.
We were able to analyze sleep patterns for individuals in their natural, everyday situations for almost two years per user, in some cases, says the study's co-lead author Giorgio Quer, PhD, senior staff scientist and director of artificial intelligence at Scripps Research Translational Institute. By contrast, sleep studies in a clinic have to be much shorter and don't represent the participant's everyday reality. Surveys of sleep habits also tend to be problematic, as they are subjective and thus, more prone to error.
For this study, the scientists collaborated with Robert Owens, MD, a sleep physician who was able to put the data in context of prior research.
The relationship between weight and sleep, particularly sleep variability, has been shown in small studies, says Owens, associate professor of medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine. To be able to find the same signal on a much larger scale, in hundreds of thousands of people, using Fitbit devices, shows the potential for wearables and consumer devices to advance science and public health.
The scientists plan to do further health-related studies using wearable-device data.
Researchers from the Scripps Research Translational Institute have published two prior studies based on Fitbit data one examining resting heart rates, and another examining the potential of Fitbit data to provide early warnings of flu outbreaks. They are also currently conducting a clinical study, DETECT, that uses wearable health data to help track outbreaks of COVID-19 and other viral respiratory diseases.
Association of sleep duration and variability with body mass index: Sleep measurements in the US from a large population of wearable users was written by co-lead authors Stuti Jaiswal and Giorgio Quer, and by Michael Galarnyk, Steven Steinhubl, Eric Topol, all of the Scripps Research Translational Institute; and Robert Owens, of UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Funding was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1 TR002550). Fitbit did not have any role in study design, execution or funding.
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolic Disorders Translational Institute Quer, Giorgio
Most recent headlines
03/01/2026
A still from OBEX by Albert Birney, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance...
02/01/2026
Freezing Florida: NHL's EVP, Entertainment Bob Chesterman on Taking the Wint...
02/01/2026
NHL Winter Classic 2026: TNT Sports Prepares for First NHL Outdoor Game in Sunsh...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
02/01/2026
Any Given Day: Cork University Hospital premieres Wednesday 7 January on RT One and RT Player at 9:35pm
RT will debut a powerful new six-part documentary se...
02/01/2026
Friday 2 January 2026
All episodes of Heated Rivalry will be landing on Sky and...
02/01/2026
Sequins, chat shows, live sporting action, ground-breaking docuseries and brand-new Irish drama to kick off 2026
New Year, New Content Coming Soon across RT
...
01/01/2026
Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation Announces 2026 Noel Schajris Scholarship The scholarship will cover tuition and housing for one Berklee College of Music stud...
01/01/2026
New year, new games, all with RTX 5080-powered cloud energy. GeForce NOW is kicking off 2026 by looking back at an unforgettable year of wins and wildly high fr...
31/12/2025
Back to All News
NFL Christmas Gameday on Netflix Scores Again With the Lions-V...
30/12/2025
As the College Football Playoff Enters the Quarterfinals, ESPN Blows Out Its Meg...
30/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Original ArticlesTake a look back at all our coverage of big-time productions, game-changing technologies, and state-of-the-art new faci...
30/12/2025
MELBOURNE, Fla., Dec. 30, 2025 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) will release its fourth quarter 2025 financial results before the market opens on Thursday, J...
30/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
30/12/2025
Your live countdown to 2026 with Inhaler, David Gray, Lyra, Garron Noone, Sharon...
30/12/2025
It marked the first civilian operational authorization for a HAPS flight in Europe, led by Space42's subsidiary, Mira Aerospace
The flight demonstrated HAP...
29/12/2025
San Francisco 49ers Strike Gold With Halftime Laser SpectacularStunning display caps $200 million renovation of Levi's Stadium techBy Dan Daley, Audio Edito...
29/12/2025
The Cup's Around the Corner: An Inside Look at Broadcast Preparations for th...
29/12/2025
SVG's Best of 2025: Longform VideoWatch the standout keynote conversations, deep dives, and panel discussions from the year for free on SVG PLAY!By Brandon ...
29/12/2025
From crisper Lossless audio and immersive music videos in beta to new Audiobooks+ plans, custom transitions between tracks, and in-app Messages, we keep levelin...
29/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
27/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
26/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
25/12/2025
Holiday lights are twinkling, hot cocoa's on the stove and gamers are settling in for a well-earned break.
Whether staying in or heading on a winter getawa...
24/12/2025
What is AI good for? Posted by MTI Film on December 24, 2025
What is AI good for?
What is AI good for?
It's been three years since ChatGPT first cap...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
24/12/2025
RT has unveiled an exclusive first look at the new Dancing with the Stars promo...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
The Boyfriend' Season 2 Unveils Heartwarming Trailer, Key...
24/12/2025
Back to All News
Love, Fights, and Everything in Between: Badly in Love' Returns for Season 2
Entertainment
24 December 2025
GlobalJapan
Link copied t...
24/12/2025
Scripps Research study links sleep variability with sleep apnea and hypertension How consumers' digital activity trackers could enable personalized health s...
23/12/2025
How guilas Cibae as Dominican Winter League Games Are Locally Produced for Glob...
23/12/2025
BitFire's Jim Akimchuk on Supplying Scalability and Customization in the Clo...
23/12/2025
CAMB.AI Enables European Athletics to Offer Multi-Language SupportPlan is to eventually offer translation into all languages spoken in EuropeBy Ken Kerschbaumer...
23/12/2025
Analysis: As sports media values trend negative, scarcity and quality are king By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Monday, December 22, 2025 - 14:08
Print ...
23/12/2025
ESPN, Disney, and NBA Return to the Animated Altcast Fray With Second Edition of...
23/12/2025
End the Year on a High Note and Donate to the Sports Broadcasting Fund Today!By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, December 23, 2025 - 12:25 pm
P...
23/12/2025
The year is winding down, the weather outside is frightful, and it's the perfect time to escape into a story that warms the heart. For listeners looking for...
23/12/2025
A Zeus motor is hot fire tested at L3Harris' Camden, Arkansas, solid rocket ...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Lightware will exhibit several major product innovations at ISE 2026, including the new USB-C BOOSTER-V1, Google Meet. integration for various Taurus UCX models...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
23/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
Large-scale study of anonymized data from Fitbit users finds adults with obesity sleep less, with more variability Wearable devices give scientists a powerful new tool for sleep studies.
