If you’re in our demographic, we have an easy answer for you: seven to nine hours. Too much or too little sleep results in all kinds of bad things, like heart disease, stroke, diabetes, mental illness . . . well, you get the idea. And times when your sleep is disrupted is just as bad as no sleep.
Well, journal Sleep Health has just released a new set of recommendations for daily sleep, which they based on over 300 peer-reviewed studies. Their recommendations:
Zero to three months of age: 14 to 17 hours
Four to 11 months of age: 12 to 15 hours
One to two years of age: 11 to 14 hours
Three to five years of age: 10 to 13 hours
Six to 13 years of age: nine to 11 hours
14 to 17 years of age: eight to 10 hours
18 to 25 years of age: seven to nine hours
26 to 64 years of age: seven to nine hours
65 and older: seven to eight hours
Why’s this matter? Well, Canadian adults are only getting an average of 6.9 hours of sleep per night—and 30% of Canadian adults are getting fewer than six hours. Moreover, men say they have a harder time falling asleep than women. So, for the sake of your health, don’t be one of the 30%. Aim for the seven-to-nine—or poor sleep may eventually kill you.
