Temporal changes in sleep parameters and body mass index after using the Pokémon Sleep app

Abstract Pokémon Sleep is a new sleep-tracking game app released in July 2023. We examined whether sleep parameters would improve with the use of the Pokémon Sleep app, and whether participants’ improvement status was associated with changes in their body mass index (BMI). We analyzed data from 2,063 volunteer Japanese participants (mean age 38.3 ± 10.7 years, female 82.1%) who used both the Pokémon Sleep and Asken (a commonly-used app in Japan to record daily BMI) for ≥90 days. During the 90 days, improvement was seen in total sleep time (TST) for 44.8% of participants, sleep latency for 18.1%, and percentage of wakefulness after sleep onset for 24.4%. BMI tended to decrease faster in participants with improved TST and sleep latency. In conclusion, the Pokémon Sleep app can improve some sleep parameters, and by association, lead to improvement in BMI.