Society is pushing people to ignore their biological cues for sleep and stay awake longer – and it could be pushing toward future health risks.<\/p>\n
A new study<\/a><\/strong> looking at the sleeping patterns of people across the world shows that we are facing a “global sleep crisis”, where people across the world are not getting enough sleep due to social pressures.<\/p>\n The study, conducted by the University of Michigan, is based on data captured by the ENTRAIN sleep tracking smartphone app.<\/p>\n According to the researchers, biologically our sleep schedule is determined by environmental factors, such as sunset, sunrise and light.<\/p>\n The amount a person sleeps is affected by a group of 20,000 nerve cells, which are located behind the eyes, the researcher said.\u00a0This cells adjust to how much light they are exposed to, especially natural light, which can cause a person to wake up earlier.<\/p>\n However data from 6,000 app users across the world,\u00a0shows that our sleeping patterns do not adhere to these schedules, and our cues for sleep are being weakened or ignored completely – likely due to societal reasons.<\/p>\n Professor Daniel Forger, one of the researchers, said that there is an increasing conflict between our bodies telling us to go to sleep, and our own desires to stay awake.<\/p>\n “Society is pushing us to stay up late, our [body] clocks are trying to get us up earlier – and in the middle the amount of sleep is being sacrificed; that’s what we think is going on in this global sleep crisis,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n The much-quoted “golden” number of hours of sleep needed is 8 hours<\/a>, with medical groups across the world saying that 7 hours is the minimum needed to maintain optimal cognitive function.<\/p>\n On top of hampered cognitive functioning, a lack of sleep can lead to a wide variety of health complications, and has even been linked to type-2 diabetes. The long-term effects of our current sleeping habits will not be seen for a few years.<\/p>\n Trying to work on little sleep, however, is the same as trying to work drunk, the researchers said.<\/p>\n The study showed that people in Japan and Singapore received the least sleep at 7 hours and 24 minutes, while those living in the Netherlands got the most at 8 hours and 12 minutes.<\/p>\n The study also showed women slept about 30 minutes more per night than men, and that older people slept more than younger people.<\/p>\n Notably, the study also found that people who slept in natural (sun\/moon) light adhered to ‘biological’ sleeping schedules.<\/p>\n South Africa was not included in the study, but according to data from another sleep app – Sleep Cycle – collected in 2015, South Africans were found to be the earliest risers in the world, with the average waking time at 6:24am.<\/p>\n The same data showed that, on average, South Africans only get to bed at 12:20am – meaning we only get just over 6 hours of sleep a day.<\/p>\n Why \u201csleeping on it\u201d is the best way to solve a problem<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n South Africans are the earliest risers in the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Private healthcare in South Africa faces government invervention<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nGetting enough sleep?<\/h3>\n
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