"There are a large number of studies about pressure on girls to lose weight, but the pressure associated with sleep hygiene is less explored and the consequences are largely unknown," said Katherine Marczyk, the study's lead investigator from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas,
Marczyk said many pressures felt by teens for girls to lose weight and be thin, such as pressure from peers, family, boyfriend and the media.
To investigate this, researchers asked 789 female students (average age 12 years) high school in Texas to illustrate how much the perceived pressure to lose weight and become thin.
The researchers then assess the quality of their sleep to measure how the external pressure to be thin affects a lot of sleep obtained.
As a result, the pressure to be thin from the boyfriend and the media can significantly reduce the time young girls sleep around 4.5 percent.
"The discrepancy in the duration of sleep jumped to 6 percent in white girls (about 60 percent of study participants) who are facing pressure to be thin from their friends," said the researcher.
Researchers warn that lack of sleep can make young girls at risk of other health problems, including increased anxiety and depression.
