Sleep Quality and Obesity in Military Personnel: A Narrative Review

• Autor(a) principal: Portugal, Guillermo
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: Geralda Ferreira, Fabrícia, Aparecida Doimo, Leonice
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Educação Física
• Texto Completo: https://revistadeeducacaofisica.emnuvens.com.br/revista/article/view/2850
• topic: sono; obesidade; desempenho; Forças Armadas; doenças; sleep quality; obseity; military personnel; disease

Introduction: Inadequate sleep and obesity have a negative impact on human body, constituting obstacles to military performance. Objective: To fulfill a narrative review of studies on the relationship between sleep quality and obesity in active duty military personnel. Methods: Therefore, to approach the topic, we used descriptors and their synonyms in Portuguese or English, without temporal delimitation, type of military force and gender. Original studies with military and active service populations were included. Case reports, reviews and studies with reserve military personnel were excluded. Results and Discussion: Twenty-one studies were elected to participate in the study. These report similar consequences to the civilian environment, due to the change in the sleep/wake cycle. The relationship between inadequate sleep and obesity can alter appetite, hormones, and cause fatigue, favoring weight gain. Among sleep disorders, obstructive sleep apnea is the most prevalent and strongly associated with body mass index. This relationship is also at the origin of hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and depression in military personnel. These effects can interfere in the military routine, compromising training, tasks that require precision and skills such as decision-making, planning, and strategic reviews. Conclusion: The literature shows the positive relationship between poor sleep quality and weight gain in military personnel. Such problems can impair operational performance in numerous tasks inherent in the military environment. Educational prevention and screening policies in health care regarding sleep quality and obesity can solve possible problems.