sleep like you need it

You know who you are. You’re burning the candle at both ends. First you have a full day of work, then the evenings’ activities. There is homework to supervise, friends to contact, bills to pay, home projects, and millions of things you’d like to do. Hopefully you are taking the time to exercise and prepare foods that can really help promote your health. Something has to give, so you get too little sleep at night. Maybe you’ll make up for it on the weekend. Did I mention all the things going on this weekend?

You are losing out on the fountain of youth, letting the sand in the hourglass run through your fingers. Maybe you get away without feeling too bad most of the time, but your performance at work (and play) suffers because of it. And your body is wearing down in ways that researchers are only now beginning to understand. Sleep is as important as diet and exercise for a healthy life.

It has been estimated that daytime sleepiness costs the U.S. over 100 billion dollars annually in decreased productivity, accidents, and health problems. Between the hours of midnight and 6 AM there are over 100,000 motor vehicle accidents annually that are attributed to a sleepy driver, causing 40,000 injuries and 1500 deaths. That’s just six hours at night – imagine what happens when our groggy populace takes to the roads the other 18 hours each day, including two rush hours.

About a quarter of the population has a chronic sleep disorder, many times aggravated by poor sleep habits. Most adults habitually get less than the 7-8 hours (average) of sleep that they need. Inadequate sleep has been shown to increase inflammation in the body, decrease ability to fight infection, and encourage the body to store fat rather than burn calories. And as people grow older and heavier, untreated sleep apnea increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.

Sleep health should begin in childhood. It is imperative to enforce a firm bedtime for children, and encourage them to keep it through adolescence. Most children require 10-11 hours of sleep. There is some individual variation in that amount (as there is at all ages), so daytime alertness is the best measure of adequate nighttime sleep. Do the kids resist? Sure. So do you. Allow for occasional late evenings as long as there is the willingness and ability to sleep later the next day. One bad night doesn’t break their sleep habit, but a consistent pattern of backsliding will ruin it. And by the way, if your child is overweight or has very large tonsils, listen for snoring and irregular breathing that could suggest sleep apnea. If they have ADHD, it is even more important that you keep a firm nighttime sleep schedule and discuss the possibility of a sleep disorder with their doctors.

Make sleep a part of your regular check up. Your day will be better for it.