Scientists have studied the need to sleep for decades. The primary theory is that the body and mind “recharge” while people are sleeping. Another question is how much sleep people need. That appears to vary by age. According to WebMD, infants need between 13 and 17 hours. People over 65 need 7 to 8 hours.
The amount of time people sleep does not only vary by age. In America, it also varies by where people live. To determine the state where people are getting the least sleep, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the share of adults reporting fewer than seven hours of sleep on average from the 2021 County Health Rankings & Roadmaps (CHR) report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 35.2% of American adults usually get less than the recommended amount of sleep, which the CDC says is seven hours of sleep over a 24-hour period. That is an elusive goal, and not getting enough sleep brings any number of risks. Lack of concentration while driving and mistakes made at work are among them.
A higher percentage of adults who report short sleep duration (less than seven hours of sleep over a 24-hour period) tend to reside in the southeastern and Midwestern United States and in states along the Appalachian Mountains. Those getting the most shut-eye tend to live in the Great Plains and Far West states.
The state where people get the least sleep is Hawaii. Here are the details:
- Adults reporting insufficient sleep: 43.2%
- Adults reporting excessive drinking: 23.0% (eighth highest)
- Adults reporting no physical activity: 19.6% (10th lowest)
- Average number of unhealthy days per month: 3.4 days (second lowest)
- Adult population: 1,115,685
To determine the states getting the most and the least sleep, 24/7 Tempo reviewed the share of adults reporting fewer than seven hours of sleep on average in each state from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute joint program’s 2021 CHR report. Insufficient sleep figures published in the report are from 2018.
All other data came from the CHR, and figures are for the most recent year available. Population figures are one-year estimates for the 18 years and over age group from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey 2019.
Click here to see all the states where people are getting the most sleep.
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