Obese rats have more broken up sleep and daytime sleepiness

Here is an article about a study presented at annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior. Researchers fattened rats with high fat diets and measured their sleep behavior. They found that the obese rats slept more in the daytime, indicating they were sleepier than normal rats. Also, the obese rates had more sleep fragmentation. Researchers think that obesity can reduce Orexin levels, which may increase sleepiness. This research supports other research showing that obesity alone increases daytime sleepiness.