Sleepless in the USA

Lack of sleep has been tied to a myriad of health problems from increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity to decreased immunity and fertility. This is in addition to the cognitive and emotional damage lack of sleep can do.

Still, many American adults get less than their recommended dose of shuteye, which is seven to nine hours for younger and middle-aged adults and seven to eight hours for seniors.

According to surveys by Gallup, 40 percent reported in 2013 to sleep six hours or less per night, up from just 11 percent who said this in 1942.

The reasons for lack of sleep might sometimes be hard to alleviate, for example when young children are keeping up their parents or economic hardship forces people into multiple jobs. In addition to those aged 18 to 29, parents of young children and lower-income Americans reported getting less than the recommended amount of sleep most often, according to Gallup. While the amount of hours slept generally increased with age, so did the awareness of lack of sleep, for example among parents.