How Much Sleep Do You Need?

Your teenager might not be playing you. He or she might actually need a bit more time in bed.

The National Sleep Foundation has upped its guidance for the amount of sleep needed for teens to between 8 and 10 hours a night. They also increased the range for younger children (see chart below). The major new study was conducted by not just sleep experts, but a wide range of specialists like psychiatrists, gynecologists and pediatricians.STREPchanges_1

A new range has been added, called “may be appropriate”, to acknowledge that some people might actually need more quality time with their Somnium. In order to figure out exactly how much sleep you need, the NSF recommend you answer these questions:

  • Are you productive, healthy and happy on seven hours of sleep? Or does it take you nine hours of quality ZZZs to get you into high gear?
  • Do you have health issues such as being overweight? Are you at risk for any disease?
  • Are you experiencing sleep problems ?
  • Do you depend on caffeine to get you through the day?
  • Do you feel sleepy when driving ?

The single most important question to consider, according to the NSF, is: do you make sleep a priority? It should be. You need to consider it at the top of your to-do list every day, and not just another task to complete after you have watched “Scandal” or cleaned the bathroom.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to do some very important work now. Wake me up in 7 to 9 hours.

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