Is Sleeping Enough Really Enough?

"How many times have we heard sleep experts say that children should get more sleep? The American Academy of Sleep Medicine state that a 6- to 12-year-old child should, on average, sleep between 9 and 12 hours every 24 hours.

The quality of one’s sleep is another important aspect of sleep. Even if time in bed allows for enough hours, one must sleep well to reap the benefits. Sleeping well means falling asleep within a relatively short time after going to bed and sleeping with few or no waking periods during the night.

It is less well known that sleep regularity is of equal importance as duration and quality. Going to sleep and waking up at about the same times every day has been found by researchers to afford health benefits, and when schedules are irregular, problems may arise. Irregular schedules were associated with metabolic problems including altered levels of insulin, low density lipoproteins and C-Reactive proteins.

Why does an irregular sleep schedule lead to these problems? Research on circadian rhythms has shown that metabolic processes occur at timed intervals throughout the 24-hour day. When the timing of those processes is disrupted, health risks increase.

If you want the full benefits of sleep, just sleeping more is not enough unless that sleep is regularly timed."

Read the complete article available at Psychology Today!

Reflection:

Do you have a regular sleep schedule? How can you try to improve your sleep quality and regularity?

#Sleep #Research #Health