Panduan Berkenaan Tidur (1)

 

Sumber gambar 

Artikel ini diambil dari : www.sleepfoundation.org 

How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?

Scientific research makes clear that sleep is essential at any age. Sleep powers the mind, restores the body, and fortifies virtually every system in the body. But how much sleep do we really need in order to get these benefits?

National Sleep Foundation guidelines advise that healthy adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. Babies, young children, and teens need even more sleep to enable their growth and development. People over 65 should also get 7 to 8 hours per night.

Knowing the general recommendations for how much sleep you need is a first step. Then It’s important to reflect on your individual needs based on factors like your activity level and overall health. And finally, of course, it’s necessary to apply healthy sleep tips so that you can actually get the full night’s sleep that’s recommended.

How Much Sleep is Recommended for Each Age Group? 

The National Sleep Foundation’s recommendations for nightly sleep are broken down into nine age groups.

In each group, the guidelines present a recommended range of nightly sleep duration for healthy individuals. In some cases, sleeping an hour more or less than the general range may be acceptable based on a person’s circumstances.

How Much Sleep Do You Need?

The National Sleep Foundation guidelines serve as a rule-of-thumb for how much sleep children and adults need while acknowledging that the ideal amount of sleep can vary from person to person.

For that reason, the guidelines list a range of hours for each age group. The recommendations also acknowledge that, for some people with unique circumstances, there’s some wiggle room on either side of the range for “acceptable,” though still not optimal, amount of sleep.

Deciding how much sleep you need means considering your overall health, daily activities, and typical sleep patterns. Some questions that you help assess your individual sleep needs include:

• Are you productive, healthy, and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or have you noticed that you require more hours of sleep to get into high gear?
• Do you have coexisting health issues? Are you at higher risk for any disease?
• Do you have a high level of daily energy expenditure? Do you frequently play sports or work in a labor-intensive job?
• Do your daily activities require alertness to do them safely? Do you drive every day and/or operate heavy machinery? Do you ever feel sleepy when doing these activities?
• Are you experiencing or do you have a history of sleeping problems?
• Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
• When you have an open schedule, do you sleep more than you do on a typical workday?

Start with the National Sleep Foundation recommendations and then use your answers to these questions to home in on your optimal amount of sleep.