Tired? You May Not Be Getting Enough Sleep

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A good night’s sleep is increasingly loosing out to late night television, the Internet, video games and other modern day distractions, and our health is taking the toll. An estimated 50 to 70 million people suffer from chronic sleep loss and sleep disorders, and loss of sleep is associated with a variety of health problems, including obesity and depression [1]. According to a recent four state study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 70% of adults report not getting enough rest or sleep at least once over the past month; 10% report insufficient rest or sleep every day [2].

The CDC analyzed 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data from four states, Delaware, Hawaii, New York and Rhode Island. The study, one of the first to present state-level information on any sleep-related measure, found that the prevalence of insufficient sleep was greater in young adults. Of those ages 18 — 34, 13.3% reported insufficient rest or sleep every day over the past month. Of those aged of 35 — 54, only 10% reported insufficient rest or sleep every day over the past month. The percentage was smallest (7.3%) for those aged â‰¥ 55 years. Similar trends were observed for shorter periods of time. Interestingly however, for people reporting only 1 — 6 days of insufficient rest or sleep during the preceding 30 days, young adults had the lowest percentage (27.8%), while adults aged 35 — 44 had the highest percentage (38.2%), followed by adults aged 45 — 54 (36%) and people aged â‰¥ 55 years (31.7%).

Persons unable to work were significantly more likely to report insufficient rest or sleep everyday than people employed, students or homemakers, people unemployed or people retired. With increasing education, respondents were less likely to report no days of insufficient rest or sleep.

The study is subject to a number of limitations. Chief among them is that it uses the results of a survey. The principle limitations of a survey are the validity and reliability of responses. Poor recall, intentional deception and misunderstanding can all contribute to inaccuracies in the data. The survey method is also descriptive and cannot offer insights into cause-and-effect relationships. Lastly, the data only reflects sleep trends in four states and may not be representative of the entire United States. Nevertheless, it is consistent with another CDC study using data from the National Health Interview Study, which found that the percentage of adults at all ages reporting six hours or less of sleep per night increased from 1985 to 2006 [3].

According to the National Sleep Foundation, most healthy adults require 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night [4]. Children and adolescents need even more sleep than adults. Children aged 3 — 5 years require 11 to 13 hours of sleep each night, children aged 5 — 12 require 9 to 11 hours and adolescents require 8.5 to 9.5 hours [4].

Here’s some tips to get a good night’s sleep:

Keep your room quiet and dark
Make sure your bed is comfortable
Avoid or limit caffeine and alcohol consumption
Don’t smoke
Eat dinner at least 2 — 3 hours before bedtime
Relax prior to bedtime
Don’t exercise right before bedtime
Establish regular bedtime and waketime schedule

Additional information on sleep and sleep disorders can be found at The National Sleep Foundation, Sleep Education.com and The Insomnia blog.

The results of this study should come as no surprise, especially to many of you who are undoubtedly reading this late in the evening. How about you? Do you get enough sleep every night?