- The average American gets a bad night of sleep for nearly one-third of the year
- Researchers said that this could be because US adults are going to bed stressed
- READ MORE: Going to bed just one hour later is enough to make you miserable
One in three nights of sleep are ‘bad’ for the average American, a survey suggests.
Researchers at OnePoll surveyed 200 American adults on how often they get a ‘perfect,’ ‘good,’ or ‘bad’ night of sleep.
They found that the average US adult gets just 132 nights of ‘perfect’ sleep each night, accounting for just 36 percent of the year.
Additionally, the participants said they averaged just 120 ‘good’ nights of rest each year.
The remaining 113 nights of rest – 30 percent – included ‘bad’ quality sleep, the researchers found.
A survey by researchers at OnePoll found that the average American gets 113 nights of bad sleep every year
Eric Zipperle, CEO of Cornbread Hemp, which commissioned the study, suggested this could be because ‘Americans are waking up stressed.
The researchers also noted that this stress kept participants awake for an additional three hours after their intended bedtime.
In fact, 65 percent of those surveyed said that a bad night’s sleep is enough to ruin the following day.
The poll also looked at what participants did while they tried to fall asleep.
About 59 percent looked at their phones, and 49 percent said they reached for snacks.
And 39 percent said they just stared at the ceiling as they waited to get some shut-eye.
Nearly three in five – 58 percent – of participants said they were stressed about their physical health, and 56 percent said they worried about tasks they had to complete the next day.
Mental health concerns accounted for 51 percent of stressors.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that all Americans get seven to nine hours of sleep every night.
Children ages six to 12 years need nine to 12 hours a night, while teenagers should get eight to ten hours.
CDC data has shown that one in three US adults gets less than seven hours of sleep a night.
Men are more likely than women to get insufficient sleep overall, with 33.3 percent saying they sleep less than seven hours a night compared to 32.1 percent of women.
A lack of sleep has consistently been linked to chronic health problems such as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity, and depression.
Additionally, the CDC says that 8.4 percent of American adults take pills to fall asleep, more than double the amount who took them 10 years prior.
These could rob the body of rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep.
Too little REM sleep could lead to forgetfulness and make it harder to get up in the morning.
