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March 16 is World Sleep Day and new research reveals that 60% of Australians would take a good night’s sleep over a night of passion, with women most likely to take sleep over sex.
The new research by Prosomnia¹ also revealed that 92% of Australians admitted to having a bad night’s sleep at least one night a week and 40% are getting by on 6 hours sleep or less a night. To combat tiredness during the day, 57% of those surveyed admitted to consuming stimulants such as coffee and energy drinks and 26% took lunchtime power naps.
Sleep expert and Director of Melbourne Sleep Disorders Centre, Dr David Cunnington says sleep is an essential ingredient to a healthy lifestyle.
“It’s worrying to see the amount of people not getting enough sleep, waking up feeling tired and having to resort to naps and caffeine to get through the day,” Dr Cunnington said.
“This is a vicious circle as stimulants and daytime napping will drive bad sleep habits. Our irregular sleep patterns also reduce sleep quality and people need to find ways of resetting their sleep cycle and restoring their natural sleeping rhythms so they wake up feeling refreshed.”
Insufficient restorative sleep at night can affect memory and make it difficult to concentrate during the day. 21% of those surveyed also said their partner found them rude and irritable after a bad night’s sleep.
“Australians need to understand that poor sleep is not something that they just have to live with. There are many ways to improve sleep quality and restore sleep patterns, so that they can feel refreshed again when getting out of bed in the morning,” said Dr Cunnington.
“People need to make time to wind down at the end of the day before going to bed and ensure they allow sufficient time for sleep.”
World Sleep Day is an initiative of the World Association of Sleep Medicine to raise awareness of sleep disorders and other issues relating to sleep.
References
1. Online market research conducted by Pure Profile on behalf of Bayer. Surveys were conducted among a nationally representative population sample of 1,000 adults over the age of 18.