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Sleeping patterns across the globe



Scientists have recently analyzed personal app data to understand sleeping patterns across the globe (BBC Health, 7 May 2016). University of Michigan developed the ENTRAIN app given to participants globally to share data on their sleeping patterns. Usually sleep data is gathered in sleep laboratories, but this study used twitter and apps to collect data.

In April and September 2014, participants in 20 countries used ENTRAIN to track ‘normal’ sleep times, as well as the typical lighting in their sleeping areas. Participants could opt to submit their data to the researchers. A total of 8,070 participants submitted data.

The results showed that people from The Netherlands had the most sleep per night on average, while people in Japan and Singapore had the least amount of sleep per night. Participants from The Netherlands slept about an hour more (8 hours and 12 minutes) than participants from Japan and Singapore (7 hours and 24 minutes). British participants averaged just under 8 hours per night, similar to the French participants.

Women averaged more sleep per night than men – across all countries. Women had about 30 minutes more sleep than men. Middle-aged men (30-60 years) had the least amount of sleep.

The later a person went to sleep in the evening, the least amount of sleep they had. Professor Daniel Forger said it was because the body seems determined to wake up in the morning, no matter what time a person went to bed. So there was often a conflict between a person’s desire to stay up late and the body’s desire to wake up in the morning. He said, ‘society is pushing us to stay up late, our [body] clocks are trying to get us up earlier and in the middle the amount of sleep is being sacrificed. That’s what we think is going on in the global sleep crisis.’

People who spent the most amount of time in natural sunlight tended to get to bed earlier.

Age also showed differences in sleeping patterns across the globe. Young people varied greatly in the times they went to bed, got up in the morning, and the amount of sleep they had – so there was a wide range of sleep and waking times. However, as people age, the differences narrow. There were less variances in their sleep and waking times.

The results were published in the Science Advances journal (6 May 2016). Further studies are planned that aim to gather data from activity and sleep monitors.



http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/5/e1501705.full

http://www.bbc.com/news/health-36226874


MARTINA NICOLLS is the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).
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