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One third of U.S. adults don't get enough sleep: study

Xinhua, February 19, 2016 Adjust font size:

More than a third of American adults are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis, according to a new study published Thursday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

"As a nation we are not getting enough sleep," Wayne Giles, director of CDC's Division of Population Health, said in a statement.

"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," Giles said.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommended that adults aged 18 to 60 years sleep at least seven hours each night to promote optimal health and well-being.

Sleeping less than seven hours per day is associated with an increased risk of developing chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and frequent mental distress.

In the new study, CDC researchers reviewed data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based, random-digit-dialed telephone survey conducted collaboratively by state health departments and the CDC.

They found the prevalence of healthy sleep duration varied among states and ranged from 56 percent in Hawaii to 72 percent in South Dakota.

A lower proportion of adults reported getting at least seven hours of sleep per day in states clustered in the southeastern region of the United States and the Appalachian Mountains. Previous studies have shown that these regions also have the highest prevalence of obesity and other chronic conditions.

People who reported they were unable to work or were unemployed had lower healthy sleep duration than did employed respondents. The prevalence of healthy sleep duration was highest among people with a college degree or higher.

In addition, the percentage reporting a healthy sleep duration was higher among people who were married compared with those who were never married or divorced, widowed, or separated. Endit