Over a third of American are not receiving an adequate amount of sleep, leading to higher risks of heart disease obesity and other health issues, federal researchers say.
Americans need to develop better sleep habits, such as developing a regular sleep schedule, limiting electronic use prior to bedtime (artificial lights have been documented as a cause of insomnia), said the researchers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“As a nation we are not getting enough sleep,” said director of CDC’s Division of Population Health, Dr. Wayne Giles. “Lifestyle changes such as going to bed at the same time each night; rising at the same time each morning; and turning off or removing televisions, computers, mobile devices from the bedroom, can help people get the healthy sleep they need.”
In the CDC study, a survey on sleep was taken by 400,000 Americans. Questions about the amount of sleep each received was among the questions. From the surveys,65 percent received seven or more hours of sleep a night.
“Sleeping less than seven hours per night is associated with increased risk for obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke, frequent mental distress, and all-cause mortality,” wrote the team in CDC’s report.
Residents of Hawaii reported 56 percent of their population getting seven or more hours of sleep. While, south Dakotans reported 72 percent of seven or more hours of sleep. Residents of the Southeast and Appalachian areas have shown to have the least amount of sleep. “Previous studies have shown that these regions also have the highest prevalence of obesity and other chronic conditions,” the CDC team wrote.
Economic problems have been associated with having sleeping problems. “People who reported they were unable to work or were unemployed had lower healthy sleep duration (51 percent and 60 percent, respectively) than did employed respondents (65 percent). The prevalence of healthy sleep duration was highest among people with a college degree or higher (72 percent).”
The CDC suggests doctors and employers begin asking their patients/employees about their sleep. “Employers can consider adjusting work schedules to allow their workers time to get enough sleep,” CDC said.
Many Americans, 9 million, take sleeping pills even though there hasn’t been a proven sleep aid. Sleeping pills have shown to be addictive. Find a natural sleep aid or working on other solutions to induce sleep. Such solutions are learning how to destress.
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