How Much Sleep Is Needed and Are We There?
The 2006 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation indicates that the average basal sleep needs of adults is approximately 7 to 8 hours per night, and the optimal sleep duration for adolescents is 9 hours per night. However, more than 35% of adults report getting fewer than 7 hours of sleep during a 24-hour period, and almost 70% of high school students report getting fewer than 8 hours of sleep on an average weeknight. Overall, about 15 million children in the United States do not get sufficient sleep.
Among adults, the reasons for sleep loss appear to be related mainly to lifestyle, work schedules (shift work and long hours), or sleep disorders. Approximately 20% of workers are engaged in shift work, which often leads to longer work hours. Among adolescents, insufficient sleep is associated with greater use of social media technology, and among younger children it is associated with depressive symptomatology, family disagreements, and safety issues around home, school and neighborhood.