Rich sleep longer and he althier
People with high incomes in particular find a longer and more efficient night's sleep. Diane Lauderdale observed that, regardless of socioeconomic status, Americans generally sleep less than they think. "But despite the many incentives to get less rest, there is increasing evidence that this would be unwise," warns the epidemiologist.
The researcher from the University of Chicago analyzed the sleep patterns of a total of 669 black and white Americans between the ages of 38 and 50. For three days and three nights, she counted the hours that the subjects spent in their own beds - and during which they actually slept.
While the test subjects lay in bed for an average of 7.5 hours, they only slept for 6.1 hours of the time. African Americans slept the least, the researcher said, averaging just 5.1 hours. Even science has a summer slump. More and more results then flood the media, which otherwise hardly find their way into reporting. With the series "Summer Hole Today" we would like to present you with a selection. African American females spent more time in bed than white Americans, but slept less than them – no more than six hours on average. White American women spent most of their time in bed. They also slept the longest and most efficiently, averaging 6.7 hours.
"People who make more money may have fewer worries," concludes Lauderdale. "But they could exercise more control over their sleeping environment."
We've been sleeping less since the beginning of the last century. Scientists claim that in 1900 the average night's sleep was nine hours, but in the 1970s it was down to about seven hours. The researcher warned that lack of sleep affects the ability to concentrate, small details are no longer given as much attention.
The subjects of this experiment also take part in the study to find cardiovascular risk factors, which has existed since 1985. Lauderdale therefore hopes to one day show how lack of sleep leads to coronary artery disease.
