Urges mothers to get adequate rest
“Getting enough sleep is a key component of overall health and can impact the heart, mind and weight. It’s important to learn what is keeping people from getting the rest they need so we can help them work toward better health”, said Kelly Sullivan, Ph.D.
Although parents of young children suffer sleep deprivation, a new study published on Medical News Today has confirmed that mothers are more affected by this development than fathers, as it was found that mothers living with children experience 14 percent sleep deficiency.
The researchers from the Georgia Southern University, who asserted that the condition will predispose women to diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and depression; are due to present their findings at the American Academy of Neurology’s 69th Annual Meeting in Boston, MA, in April.
Collating data from 5,800 adults, the team found that having children in the house significantly reduced the number of hours mothers slept each night, while fathers’ sleep remained unaffected.
The researchers believe their study helps shed light on what contributes to sleep deprivation, paving the way for new strategies to help people get a good night’s sleep.
Study co-author Kelly Sullivan, Ph.D., of Georgia Southern University, and colleagues noted that the National Sleep Foundation holds that adults should aim to get around 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but more than 35 percent fail to meet these recommendations.
For their study, Sullivan and colleagues analyzed data from a telephone survey of 5,805 men and women aged 45 and under from across the United States.
Compared with women who did not have children in their household, the team found that women who did have children were 14 percent less likely to report getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night.
