Do we get enough sleep? Does it matter?

This week the newspapers reported that the Uk government was considering issuing sleep hygiene guidelines amid publicity of studies which seem to show a crisis of sleeplessness


How much sleep do we need?

the Sleep council has some facts and a sleep calculator.

The US National Sleep Foundation also has examples of hours required. Its Sleep Health Journal has academic articles on all aspects of sleep and health

The NHS has guidance on the amount of sleep children need


Which countries sleep the most?

Interesting study from Science Advances in 2016 used an app to measure sleep patterns worldwide.
People in the UK averaged just under eight hours less than France and the Netherlands. Women also tended to have less sleep than men.
Sleep Cycle App also has some real time statistics from users on its website. read methodology to see how they are obtained.

Are we getting less sleep than in the past?

this interesting academic article studied 1960- 2013 and founded from reviewing scientific studies no significant evidence of a decline.
However there are still concerns that high numbers do not get enough sleep in the USA the Center for Diseases and Control has this data for 2014 which also shows considerable geographical variation

The Sleep council has national surveys for the UK. it found that in 2013 One third of Britons now sleep for just five-to-six hours per night,

Does it matter?

A systematic review of The impact on health on short sleep duration found- Short sleep was significantly associated with the mortality outcome Similar significant results were observed in diabetes mellitus hypertension cardiovascular diseases coronary heart diseases and obesity. However. sleeping too long may also be bad. Another systematic review summarised evidence on the impact on health of long sleep duration stating that ."Meta-regression analyses found statistically significant linear associations between longer sleep duration and increased mortality and incident cardiovascular disease"
The costs of lack of sleep may also be bad for the economy. Economic modelling from 5 OECD nations by RAND found that in UK (up to $50 billion, 1.86 per cent of its GDP) may be lost.

Search for more articles on sleep and health using Pubmed