Story at a glance
- Medical College of Georgia (MCG)investigators used data from a nationally representative sample of 11,279 participants age 6 and older, each of whom wore a device on their nondominant wrist that measured movement and gauged sleep.
- The participants wore the device for 24 hours a day over a period of seven days, finding generally that nighttime sleep declines with increasing age.
- Yet the study suggests Americans’ sleep efficiency — the time one is actually asleep compared to time carved out for sleep — also declines with age but tends to stabilize from age 30 to 60.
Americans get the least amount asleep around age 40, researchers found in a new study.
Medical College of Georgia (MCG)investigators used data from a nationally representative sample of 11,279 participants aged 6 and older, each of whom wore a device on their nondominant wrist that measured movement and gauged sleep. Theparticipant data was gathered from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey released in 2020.
The participants wore the device for 24 hours a day over a period of seven days, finding generally that nighttime sleep declines with increasing age.
“We confirmed previous findings based on subjective measurement,” the study’s first author Shaoyong Su said in a news release. “People think children and adolescents sleep later and we found this. And, during middle-age people sleep less and our findings support that objectively.”
Yet the study suggests Americans’ sleep efficiency — the time one is actually asleep compared to time carved out for sleep — also declines with age but tends to stabilize from age 30 to 60.
“Traditionally people think sleep efficiency goes straight down with age, but we did find there is a stable period, from ages 30 to 60 years old, that you have quite stable sleep efficiency,” said study author and genetic epidemiologist Xiaoling Wang.
The authors found that although female participants went to bed later and slept longer than their male peers, their sleep efficiency was similar.
Meanwhile, young adults around age 20 went to bed at the latest hour, and teens age 14 to 17 showed the greatest difference between sleep onset during the week and the weekend.
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The team stressed that sleep quality is a key contributor to an array of health issues, and poor sleep could serve as a warning sign for doctors.
“I think what these sleep parameters mean in terms of people’s health is that if you are a physician or other provider and patients come in with some kind of complaint about their sleep, you need to interpret what they tell you in light of their stage in life and what their likely sleep patterns are going to be,” said Vaughn McCall, chair of the MCGDepartment of Psychiatry and Health Behavior.
“I don’t look at our findings necessarily as a benchmark of perfect health,” McCall continued. “I look at this as a benchmark of what is happening in America.”
Authors note that a limitation of their study may result from primarily self-reported results from study participants.
Mayo Clinic recommends various healthy sleep periods depending on a person’s age. They advise children aged 6 to 12 sleep 9-12 hours in a 24-hour period, while suggesting 8 to 10 hours per 24 hours for adolescents ages 13 to 18. Adults, according to the clinic, need at least seven hours per night.
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FAQs
Overall, women aged 18 to 49 are the least likely to report getting the sleep they need in 2023, at 27%, compared with 46% of men in the same age group. Younger women are also less likely than older women to get the sleep they need, with 44% of women 50 and older in 2023 reporting they get enough sleep.
What age gets the least amount of sleep? ›
A recent study found that people around the age of 40 tend to get less sleep (1).
What age group is the most sleep deprived? ›
“It's a major contributing factor to sleep deprivation which is unique to adolescence, adolescence. Generally, the period between puberty and legal adulthood. By some standards this includes the teenaged years, from 13 to 19.
What is the least amount of sleep you should get? ›
School-age children (ages 6-13) need 9-11 hours a day. Teenagers (ages 14-17) need about 8-10 hours each day. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours, although some people may need as few as 6 hours or as many as 10 hours of sleep each day. Older adults (ages 65 and older) need 7-8 hours of sleep each day.
Is age 40 when busy Americans get the least sleep? ›
Summary: A graph of how long Americans sleep forms a U-shaped pattern across our lives, with age 40 being the low point and hours of sleep starting to creep back up about age 50, investigators report.
Which age group sleeps the longest? ›
Preschoolers (3-5 years): 11-13 hours. School-aged children (6-13 years): 9-11 hours. Teenagers (14-17): 8-10 hours. Adults (18 and older): 7-9 hours.
Do kids sleep less as they get older? ›
toddlers (1–2 years): 11–14 hours, including naps. preschool (3–5 years): 10–13 hours, including naps. school-age (6–13 years): 9–12 hours. teens (14–17 years): 8–10 hours.
Who slept 3 hours a year? ›
Sleeping for 3 hours a year sounds practically impossible. However, there are many sources which suggest that Einstein, Tesla, Leo Da Vinci and many other past century geniuses did sleep for only a few hours per day or they took several naps of few minutes each, per day.
How many Americans don't get enough sleep? ›
In December 2023, Gallup polling found that 26% of Americans report getting eight or more hours of sleep, while 20% report getting five or less.
How much sleep does a 100 year old need? ›
Sleep and Aging
Older adults need about the same amount of sleep as all adults—7 to 9 hours each night. But, older people tend to go to sleep earlier and get up earlier than they did when they were younger. There are many reasons why older people may not get enough sleep at night.
Most of the time, some sleep is better than none. If you're choosing between two hours (or any amount of sleep) or an all-nighter, go for the sleep. You may wake up groggy, but you won't be at your best without any sleep, either.
What sleep is too little? ›
Experts recommend that adults sleep between 7 and 9 hours a night. Adults who sleep less than 7 hours a night may have more health issues than those who sleep 7 or more hours a night.
Is 4hrs of sleep enough? ›
No, four hours of sleep is not enough for the average person. The minimum amount of sleep recommended for adults by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine is seven hours. These recommendations are based on large-scale population studies looking at how much sleep people need, Molly Atwood, Ph.
Why do older adults sleep less? ›
Older adults may produce and secrete less melatonin, the hormone that promotes sleep. They may also be more sensitive to — and may awaken because of — changes in their environment, such as noise. Older adults may also have other medical and psychiatric problems that can affect their nighttime sleep.
Do people who sleep a lot age slower? ›
Healthy circulation, and slower arterial aging—that's the age-related damage to the body's heart and blood vessels. Sleeping well can lower blood pressure, relax blood vessels and improve blood flow, bringing nutrients—and a healthy color—to the skin. Sleep also slows the aging of the heart and blood vessels.
Who are the most sleep deprived people? ›
Younger adults were less likely to have trouble staying asleep (13.8% of those aged 18–44) compared with adults aged 45–64 (21.8%) and adults aged 65 and over (20.3%). Women (20.7%) were more likely than men (14.7%) to have trouble staying asleep.
What generation is sleep deprived? ›
A research into the sleeping habits of the millennial generation - those born between 1981 and 1996 - has revealed that they are not getting enough sleep. The poll, conducted by Gallup, found that just 39 per cent of millennials said they were getting the requisite amount of shut-eye.
