ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2016
Does artificial light-at-night exposure contribute to the worldwide obesity pandemic?
Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
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55 citing papers in PubMed, 143 citations in OpenAlex.
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- The Effects of Light on Vertebrate Welfare: A Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Review
- Trajectories of night light exposure and risk of overweight and obesity: a 15-year longitudinal cohort study of 218,239 Chinese children.BMC medicine · 2025Article
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- Impact of Modern Lifestyle on Circadian Health and Its Contribution to Adipogenesis and Cancer Risk.Cancers · 2024Review
- Time-Restricted Feeding Attenuates Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Fibrosis in Mice Under Chronic Light Exposure.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Nighttime Outdoor Artificial Light and Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.JAMA network open · 2024Article
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- Beyond sleep duration: Sleep timing is associated with BMI among Brazilian adults.Sleep medicine: X · 2023Article
- [Association of outdoor artificial light at night exposure with overweight and obesity among children and adolescents aged 9 to 18 years in China].Beijing da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Peking University. Health sciences · 2023Article
- Non-Classical Aspects of Obesity Pathogenesis and Their Relative Clinical Importance for Obesity Treatment.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Artificial Light-at-Night Exposure and Overweight and Obesity across GDP Levels among Chinese Children and Adolescents.Nutrients · 2023Article
- Sex- and age-specific association between outdoor light at night and obesity in Chinese adults: A national cross-sectional study of 98,658 participants from 162 study sites.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Role of Circadian Clock on the Pathogenesis and Lifestyle Management in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Circadian Rhythm Disruption Increases Tumor Growth Rate and Accumulation of Myeloid-Derived Suppressor Cells.Advanced biology · 2022Article
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- The role of melatonin in the molecular mechanisms underlying metaflammation and infections in obesity: A narrative review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2022Review
- Life before and after COVID-19: The 'New Normal' Benefits the Regularity of Daily Sleep and Eating Routines among College Students.Nutrients · 2022Article
- A Review of Equine Sleep: Implications for Equine Welfare.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2022Review
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWorldwide overweight and obesity rates are on the rise, with about 1 900 billion adults being defined as overweight and about 600 million adults being defined as obese by the World Health Organization (WHO). Increasing exposure to artificial light-at-night (ALAN) may influence body mass, by suppression of melatonin production and disruption of daily rhythms, resulting in physiological or behavioral changes in the human body, and may thus become a driving force behind worldwide overweight and obesity pandemic.
methodsWe analyzed most recent satellite images of night time illumination, available from the US Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), combining them with country-level data on female and male overweight and obesity prevalence rates, reported by the WHO. The study aims to identify and measure the strength of association between ALAN and country-wide overweight and obesity rates, controlling for per capita GDP, level of urbanization, birth rate, food consumption and regional differences.
resultsALAN emerged as a statistically significant and positive predictor of overweight and obesity (t>1.97; P<0.05), helping to explain, together with other factors, about 70% of the observed variation of overweight and obesity prevalence rates among females and males in more than 80 countries worldwide. Regional differences in the strength of association between ALAN and excessive body mass are also noted.
conclusionsThis study is the first population-level study that confirms the results of laboratory research and cohort studies in which ALAN was found to be a contributing factor to excessive body mass in humans.
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