It is often said that our world today is facing an “obesity epidemic,” but is it ever said that we are instead facing an epidemic of sleep deprivation? Anne Stein's article, "Not Enough ZZZZZZ's?" written for the Orlando Sentinel, supports his claim that sleep deprivation leads to weight gain in both children and adults using recent studies in sleep research. He first supports his claim by showing the relationship between sleep deprivation and obesity from the 1960s to today, then the alteration in hormone levels when sleep deprived, and finally provides statistics on the number of sleep-deprived children sleep and obese children. Stein effectively shows that resulting from sleep can and will lead to weight gain to convince the reader to value the importance of sleep. As Stein demonstrated in his article, sleep and weight are linked together through the regulation of the body's hormone levels, so when sleep is limited, hormone levels are altered. The hormone ghrelin, which tells the brain that the body is hungry, increases by 28%; while the hormone leptin, which tells the brain that the body has eaten enough, decreases by 18%. According to Dr. Michael Decker, adults who sleep less than six hours a night, even when they exercise and eat well, increase the likelihood of being overweight or obese (Stein 2). Even children are not safe from the effects of sleep loss. In a study of 8,234 children it was discovered that those who slept less than ten and a half hours increased their chances of becoming obese by 50% (Stein 2). Some researchers suggest that this lack of sleep is due to video games, school bus routes, or parents' early work schedules. Another study shows that 58% of ob...... middle of paper ......and an adequate and healthy level of sleep. Twelve to fifteen hours are recommended for children from one to three years old, from eleven to thirteen hours for three to five year olds, from nine to eleven hours for five to twelve year olds, from nine to ten hours for adolescents and at least seven to eight hours for adults (Wasowicz 17). A survey of 71 sleep specialists was conducted to gather tips on how to fall and stay asleep. Some of these tips include: Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol, which suppress deep sleep, within three to six hours of going to bed; avoid heavy meals three hours before going to bed; snack on bananas, turkey, peanut butter and other foods rich in tryptophan, which produces a natural sedative; put work aside two or three hours before going to bed; keep the room quiet, dark and cool; and dim the lights two or three hours before going to sleep (Wasowicz 3).