Sleep is one of the most important aspects of our health, and medical experts constantly urge us to make sure we get enough of it — but are we actually getting too much of it, and being tired all day as a result?
Smartphones and computer screens risk disrupting our sleep patterns and resulting in poor sleep quality, with studies finding that Americans sleep up to three hours fewer today than during the industrial revolution, but a new study indicates that scientists may be off base in this estimation, and our problem may be the opposite — too much sleep, according to a New York Times report.
This new study indicates that people in the United States actually sleep as much on average as those in three different hunter-gatherer societies that have no electricity and therefore don’t have their sleep disrupted by screens. The study looked at tribes in Africa and South America and compared their sleep habits with Americans.
It’s an important finding because poor sleep habits have been blamed for many of society’s ills, including obesity and chronic disease, according to the report.
But despite actually sleeping at the low end of industrialized societies, the hunter-gatherers appear to be fit and healthy, and they expend the same amount of energy, so it’s not because they’re getting a better workout.
Despite the commonly repeatedly wisdom that our nighttime activities disrupt our natural circadian rhythm and thus our sleep as well, the study contradicts this. The hunter-gatherer groups studied didn’t go to sleep when the sun went down but usually were up hours past dark, and had no light exposure except for a campfire.
For the most part, they slept about six and a half hours, which is a little bit less than the average American does, Most adults in the United States sleep for at least seven hours or more.
John Peever, a University of Toronto sleep expert, was quoted in the report as saying: “I think this paper is going to transform the field of sleep. … It’s difficult to envision how we can claim that Western society is highly sleep deprived if these groups that live without all these modern distractions and pressing schedules sleep less or about the same amount as the average Joe does here in North America.”
The CDC has a number of findings when it comes to sleep deprivation, which can be found on their website.