Do you know the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, every night? If you don’t then you have to know it by now.
Humans, like all animals, need sleep, along with food, water and oxygen in order to survive. For humans, sleep is a vital indicator of overall health and well-being. Most of us know that getting a good night’s sleep is important, but too few of us actually make those eight hours or so, devoted for sleep to be a priority. For many of us with sleep debt, we’ve forgotten what “being really, truly rested” feels like.
There has been recent recommendations for how much time people should spend snoozing.
Released by the National Sleep Foundation, the new guidelines include small changes to the recommended ranges for the amount of sleep that children and teens should get.
- Newborns (up to 3 months old): 14 to 17 hours a day. (Previously, the recommendation was 12 to 18 hours daily.)
- Infants (4 to 11 months): 12 to 15 hours. (Previously, the recommendation was 14 to 15 hours.)
- Toddlers (ages 1 to 2): 11 to 14 hours. (Previously, the recommendation was 12 to 14 hours.)
- Preschoolers (ages 3 to 5): 10 to 13 hours. (Previously, the recommendation was 11 to 13 hours.)
- School-age children (ages 6 to 13): 9 to 11 hours. (Previously, the recommendation was 10 to 11 hours.)
- Teenagers (ages 14 to 17): 8 to 10 hours. (Previously, the recommendation was 8.5 to 9.5 hours.)
- Younger adults (ages 18 to 25): 7 to 9 hours (new age category)
- Adults (ages 26 to 64): 7 to 9 hours (same recommendation as before)
- Older adults (ages 65 and older): 7 to 8 hours (new age category)
The National Sleep Foundation Sleep Duration Recommendations will help individuals make sleep schedules that are within a healthy range. They also serve as a useful starting point for individuals to discuss their sleep with their health care providers,” David Cloud, CEO of the National Sleep Foundation, said in a statement.
The researchers have also acknowledged that some people may naturally sleep for shorter or longer periods than what is recommended, without experiencing any adverse health consequences. For this reason, the recommendations also include sleep ranges that “may be appropriate for some individuals.
To put it all simply, there is no “magic number” for the amount of hours you need to sleep. Whilst you personally may be at your absolute best sleeping 7 hours a night, someone else may clearly need 9 hours to have a happy, productive life.
For you to see how you respond to different amounts of sleep, pay careful attention to your mood and energy levels after, for instance a six hour sleep, and then compare them to how you feel after a nine-hour sleep. When you get the balance right, make that your sleep pattern and just stick to it whenever you can.
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