People don't sleep enough: study

If you're looking for a good night's sleep, don't work long hours at a high-pressure job. Or commute. Or get married and have kids. Too late? You can take some comfort in the fact that many Canadians are in the same sleepy boat, according to a Statistics Canada report released yesterday.

Findings from the government's 2005 general social survey of 19,500 Canadians aged 15 or over - in which respondents kept a diary of activities over a single day - reveal a time-stressed population willing to dip into sleep banks to make room for work and family life.

The study shows Canadians aren't taking their sleep seriously, says Julie Carrier, a psychology professor at Université de Montréal and researcher at the Sacré-Coeur Hospital sleep lab.

Sleep is lagging other health issues in the public mind, especially for high-earners who are quitting smoking, eating healthier and exercising, Dr. Carrier says.

Highlighting this paradox is the fact that women who reported exercising on the day of the survey actually dipped into their sleep bank to do it, taking out 19 minutes.

"Sleep is something that people unfortunately don't believe is important - it's optional," she says. "In a society focused on productivity it's seen as something that is unproductive, which is a very wrong way of seeing things."

 

By the numbers

19

Average number of minutes we sleep in on the weekend.

13

Number of minutes fewer that men sleep than women on weeknights.

0

The difference between men and women on the weekend.

6:54

Average workday waking time (a.m.).

7:33

Average Saturday waking time (a.m.).

7:50

Average Sunday waking time (a.m.).

From Who Gets Any Sleep These Days? Sleep Patterns of Canadians, by Statistics Canada