Sleep is essential to health: an American Academy of Sleep Medicine position statement

Summary & key facts

This is a position statement from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine saying sleep is essential to health. The paper explains that healthy sleep means enough hours each night, good quality, consistent timing, and no untreated sleep disorders. The authors say many people do not get enough sleep and that poor sleep is linked to worse mood, problems with thinking, more accidents, and higher risks for long-term illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and even higher chance of dying. They recommend stronger sleep education in schools and medical training, later school start times for teens, routine sleep checks in medical care, and more research on sleep and public health.

Key facts:

• The AASM states clearly that sleep is essential to health and should be part of public health, education, and medical practice.
• Healthy sleep includes enough hours, good quality, regular timing, and absence of sleep disorders—not just total time asleep.
• AASM and the Sleep Research Society recommend adults average 7 or more hours of sleep per night to support health.
• Surveys show about one-third of children and adults do not get enough sleep regularly, and about three-quarters of high school students fall short.
• Chronic insufficient sleep is linked to more accidents and to higher risks of long-term illnesses such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cancer, and is associated with a higher risk of dying.
• College students commonly have short or irregular sleep, and these sleep problems are tied to more anxiety and depression symptoms and to worse academic performance.
• Medical and nursing education often gives very little time to sleep topics. Many medical schools and residency programs provide only a few hours or none at all, so clinicians may not routinely ask about or treat sleep problems.
• The AASM recommends that middle and high schools start at 8:30 AM or later to help adolescents get enough sleep.
• The statement calls for hospitals and long-term care homes to improve sleep conditions and for workplaces and public health programs to promote behaviors that help people get healthy sleep.
• The authors note that more research on sleep and internal body clocks (circadian rhythms) is needed to better understand how sleep affects public health and health inequalities.

Topics

Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet Sleep and related disorders Sleep and Work-Related Fatigue

Categories

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology Psychology Social Sciences

Tags

Alternative medicine Computer science Family medicine Gerontology Insomnia Law Medicine MEDLINE Operating system Pathology Political science Position statement Psychiatry Sleep (system call) Sleep disorder Sleep medicine Statement (logic)

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Sleep disorder Anxiety or worry Difficulty focusing Lack of energy or motivation Poor sleep Sadness or low mood