Hitting the Snooze Button – Are You Getting Enough Sleep?

If you're suffering from a tiredness handover that has nothing to do with alcohol this morning, it may be time to question whether you're getting enough sleep. An expert panel convened by the National Sleep Foundation in the US has issued a set of recommendations based on age, ranging from newborns to adults aged 65 and up. The recommendations came about after researchers on the multidisciplinary panel examined findings from 320 different studies on various aspects of sleep duration. Their results were published in Sleep Health: Journal of the National Sleep Foundation. Dr. Don Carlos, a professor in the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, said: "The process was very rigorous. "We still have a great deal to learn about the function of sleep. "We know it's restorative and important for memory consolidation. But we don't know the details of what the function of sleep is, even though it is how we spend one-third of our lives." The sleep-time recommendations from the National Sleep Foundation expert panel are:

• Newborns (0-3 months): Sleep range 14-17 hours
• Infants (4-11 months): Sleep range 12-15 hours
• Toddlers (1-2 years): Sleep range 11-14 hours
• Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range 10-13 hours
• School age children (6-13): Sleep range 9-11 hours
• Teenagers (14-17): Sleep range 8-10 hours
• Younger adults (18-25): Sleep range 7-9 hours
• Adults (26-64): Sleep range 7-9 hours.
• Older adults (65+): Sleep range is 7-8 hours