MARCH:
Sleep Toolkit
On average, people spend 33 percent of their lives asleep. When assessing your overall health, have you considered your sleep habits? Sleep hygiene involves a variety of different behavioral practices that are necessary for quality sleep and full alertness during waking hours.
What do you need to know to effectively raise awareness about healthy sleeping habits?
Did you know that while you sleep, your brain is hard at work forming the pathways necessary for learning and creating memories and new insights? Without enough sleep, you can’t focus and pay attention or respond quickly. A lack of sleep may even cause mood problems. Also, growing evidence shows that a chronic lack of sleep increases your risk of obesity, diabetes, cardiovas¬cular disease, and infections.
- The recommended amount of sleep for:
- Older adults (65+ year) is 7–8 hours
- Adults (26–64 years) is 7–9 hours
- Young adults (18–25 years) is 7–9 hours
- Teenagers (14–17 years) is 8–10 hours
- School Age (6–13 years) is 9–11 hours
- Preschool (3–5 years) is 10–13 hours
- Toddlers (1–2 years) is 11–14 hours
- Infants (4–11 months) is 12–15 hours
- Newborns (0–3 months) is 14–17 hours
- Many stimulants, such as coffee and energy drinks, can be an obstacle to our natural sleep/wake cycle
- Nearly ten percent of the American population experiences chronic insomnia
Some tips for getting better sleep are:
- Keep a sleep journal and include the following habits:
- What time you fall asleep
- How many times you wake up at night
- What time you wake up and get out of bed in the morning
- When you drink any caffeinated beverages or alcohol
- When you exercise
- When you take any naps during the day
- Try going to bed and waking up at the same time each day
- Make sure your bedroom is quiet, dark, and free of distractions
- Avoid backlit screens for at least one hour before sleeping
- Avoid large meals before going to bed