INTRODUCTION. The prevalence of overweight and obesity hasreached an epidemic scale in many countries. Apart from causinghigher risk of chronic diseases, overweight and obesity may alsolead to sleep disorders. The consequences of sleep disorders aredaytime sleepiness and low sleep quality. The aim of this studywas to demonstrate the association of overweight and obesity withthe prevalence of daytime sleepiness and subjective sleep quality.

MATERIAL AND METHODS. The study involved 100 obese and overweightpatients from clinic in Katowice (60% women and 40% of men;average age 37 years, range 19–67 years). We used anonymous questionnaireconsisting of three parts: Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS),the scale of Sleep Quality (SQ), and additional (author’s) questions.

RESULTS. Overweight was diagnosed in 47% of patients, classI obesity in 36%, class II obesity in 12%, and class III obesity in 5%.Body mass index (BMI) ranged 26–45. Higher body mass index wasassociated with longer sleep time in 24-hour period. Seventy percentof patients reported increased appetite in stressful situationsand 60% were night-eaters. Snoring problem was reported by 47% of patients (somebody told them that they snore) and 49% ofpatients declared that they did not snore. In 8% of studied patientsESS results were ≥ 14, what is an evidence of daytime sleepiness.Over 50% of patients had ESS score higher than 29 points, whatindicates low sleep quality.

CONCLUSION 1. Patients with higher BMI slept longer and had poorer sleep qualitythan patients with lower BMI.2. Daytime sleepiness occurred more frequently in patients withhigher BMI (regardless of sex).3. Most of studied patients reported increased appetite in stressfulsituations.4. Half of patients were night-eaters and almost half of studiedpatients had snoring problems.