Night work, daily commute times, screens, noise, smoking … There are many reasons why our rest time is gradually reducing. “The proportion of little sleepers, in sleep debt, continues to increase”, confirms Public Health France, which publishes this Tuesday March 12 its Weekly epidemiological bulletin (BEH) devoted to sleep. The survey reveals that adults slept on average 6 hours and 42 minutes per night in 2017. This is the first time that this time is less than minimum seven hours daily recommended for a good recovery.
A third sleep less than 6 hours
Experts interviewed 12,637 people aged 18-75. In more detail, the sleep time was only 6:34 a.m. on weekdays and during work periods, 7:12 a.m. during weekends and rest periods. Between 1 hour and 1.5 hours of average sleep has been lost in 50 years. A phenomenon that can be explained by a late bedtime (11:15 p.m. on average) for an early awakening (6:48 a.m. on average). More so, the numbers have shown that 35.8% of French people slept less than 6 hours per night, or more than a third of the population.
Gold “Sleeping less than 6 hours is associated with a higher risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and accidents”, write in an editorial the sleep specialist Damien Léger and the Director General of Public Health France, François Bourdillon. That “Also reduces vigilance during the day, increases irritability and disrupts family relationships as well as the quality of life and work”.
The decline, not inevitable
In total, 30% of French people consider themselves to be in sleep debt. Women suffer from it more than men: 23.1% of them have a severe unbalanced need, against 14.3% of men. Overall, 13.1% of respondents suffered from chronic insomnia. A quarter therefore tries to compensate for this lack of rest while taking a nap, especially at weekends. But even including these naps, the recommended seven hours are not reached.
“This decline in the time and quality of sleep should not be inevitable”, note the authors of the report. Several measures and tips can be applied to “Give sleep a chance” : develop self-measurement tools (applications, connected objects) to assess your rest time, sleep in a quiet room, sufficiently dark and ideally heated to 18 ° C, promote naps including at work …
In addition, the 2nd edition of the “To each his own sleep” campaign is also starting today for people. suffering from nocturnal disturbances. Meetings are organized during the month of March, at the same time as the days of sleep which will be held on March 15 in the world and March 22 in France.
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