National Sleep Guidance Can Help Combat Sleep Deprivation: Royal Society for Public Health

As health experts are constantly warning about the ill-effects of sleep deprivation, new research by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) has warned that people in England lack an hour’s sleep daily, mounting to their loss of recommended sleep every day. The average sleep timing for an individual is 8 hours, but most Britons sleep only for 6.8 hours, below the 7.7 hours people feel they need. This amounts to losing an entire night's sleep over the course of a week, said the report.

RSPH has around 6,000 public health specialists, and they said that lack of sleep has been linked to several diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart attack and depression. Therefore, they highlight the need for national sleep guidance.

"Our research shows there is a gap in how much sleep the public are getting compared to how much they need. Efforts to combat this shortfall could be as critical to optimizing our health and wellbeing as maintaining an active lifestyle or having a healthy diet," said RSPH experts.

They added, "A good starting point would be to ensure sleep has parity alongside other areas of health and develop a national sleep strategy which sets out guidance for the public and highlights what more schools, employers, and healthcare professionals can do to ensure the nation sleeps better at night."



Source-Medindia