Many Americans Do Not Get Enough Sleep
Posted on: Friday, 30 October 2009, 06:45 CDT
According to a study released on Thursday, millions of Americans are not getting enough sleep — a problem that may represent a greater public health issue than most experts had previously realized.
The study was carried out by the federal agency the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and utilized data collected in over 400,000 phone interviews by state health departments.
The results of the study were published in the current issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and indicate that nearly one-third of all Americans sleep on average less than seven hours per night — a number which most medical experts agree is the minimum amount of sleep needed by healthy adults.
The survey was conducted in 2008 and asked participants how many days in the past month they felt that they had not gotten enough sleep or rest.
The study found that a mere three out of every 10 people surveyed said that they had experienced no nights of insufficient sleep, while one in 10 participants reported that they had not slept well one night in the previous 30 days.
According to the results of the study, the CDC estimates that up 70 million Americans could potentially be suffering from chronic sleep and wakefulness disorders.
The report also indicated significant variations in quality of sleep based on demographic categories such as age, gender, race, education and geographic location.
In general the study found that whites slept better than blacks and Hispanics, men slept better than women, and the elderly better than the young.
Researchers also detected a few peculiar and unexpected trends.
Sleeplessness was most prevalent, for example, among inhabitants of southeastern states such as Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia.
Curiously, the study also noted that people without a high school diploma enjoyed better sleeping habits than people with a university degree, with nearly 40 percent of people with less than a high school education reported getting a good night’s sleep every night during the preceding month while only 28 percent of college grads could say the same.
In the report’s conclusion, the CDC sounded the reminder that chronic sleep deficiency can lead to a number of more serious health complications such as high cholesterol, obesity, and depression. In addition, a correlation has also been observed between sleeplessness and bad health habits like smoking, overeating and heavy drinking.
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Source: RedOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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