A recent study has revealed sleep patterns differ based on gender, age, location and culture.
The study, published in Sleep Medicine compared the sleep habits of 17,335 people aged 16 to 30 wearing fitness trackers to measure their 14-day sleep patterns.
“Sleep duration ranged from seven hours 53 minutes at age 16, to seven hours 29 minutes at age 30”, explained sleep expert Michael Gardisar. “There were also clear differences between males and females throughout adolescence and young adulthood, with girls having longer sleep and earlier timed sleep.
“Young adults in Asia had the shortest sleep duration (six hours 30 minutes), whereas those in Oceania (seven hours 14 minutes) and Europe (seven hours seven minutes) had the longest. Young adults in Central and Southern America and the Middle East also reported short sleep (six hours 40 minutes),” said Professor Gardisar.
One of the reasons, according to him, for the shorter sleep times in Asia could be higher work and education expectations and demands in these countries compared to the west.
“Our findings suggest that cultural factors likely impinge upon the sleep opportunity of young people around the world,” he concluded.
For more information on the study, click here.
