What is Sleep Hygiene you may ask?
Sleep Hygiene is a group of healthy sleep habits that can improve your sleep. Good sleep hygiene can improve overall health.
How does good sleep hygiene improve health?
Some benefits of having good sleep hygiene and obtaining adequate, good quality sleep include:
- Your body having the ability to repair itself, particularly the heart and blood vessels
- Boost of immune system
- Supports hunger hormone balance
- Supports regulated insulin levels
- Supports health growth and development
- Decreases risk of conditions such as heart disease, High Blood Pressure, obesity, Diabetes and stroke
- Helps to maintain a healthy weight
- Emotional and cognitive renewal
- Decreases stress
- Lower risk of motor vehicle crashes
- Improves attention and memory (Solodar, 2025)(CDC, 2024)(NIH,2022)
What can you do to have better sleep hygiene?
There are behaviors you can incorporate and habits you can develop to increase the quaility of your sleep. These include:
- Make your sleep environment comfortable - keep bedroom quiet, relaxing and at a cool temperature
- Maintain a consistent sleep schedule -try to go to sleep at the same time every day
- Turn off electronic devices at least 30 minutes before bedtime
- Follow a bedtime routine that helps you fall asleep
- Exercise regularly - even 30 minutes of aerobic exercise can increase sleep quality
- Avoid lage meals and alcohol before bedtime
- Avoid caffeine in afternoon or evening - effects of caffeine can last 3 - 7 hours
- Avoid smoking - Nicotine is a stimulant
- Limit napping
- Manage stress
- Manage light exposure (Solodar, 2025)(CDC, 2024)(Healthline, 2024)
What is meant by sleep quality?
Quality sleep encompases not only how many hours you sleep, but also how well you sleep. Poor sleep quality may include:
- Trouble falling asleep
- Waking up during the night
- Feeling sleepy or tired after a full night's sleep (CDC, 2024)
What are some common sleep disorders?
- Insomnia - trouble or staying asleep
- Restless Legs Syndrome (Willis - Ekbom Disease) - neurological condition causing irresistible urge to move legs
- Narcolepsy - chronic disorder causing someone to be very sleepy during day hours and disrupts night sleep. Individual may fall asleep during daily activities
- Sleep Apnea - condition where breathing stops and restarts many times (NIH, 2022)(NIH, 2022) (NIH, 2025)(NIH, 2025)(NIH, 2025)
According to the CDC, the following is how much sleep is recommended for each age group every day:
- 0 - 3 months: 14 - 17 hours
- 4 - 12 months: 12 - 16 hours
- 1 - 2 years: 11 - 14 hours
- 3 - 5 years: 10 - 13 hours
- 6 - 12 years: 9 - 12 hours
- 13 - 17 years: 8 - 10 hours
- 18 - 60 years: 7 or more hours
- 61 - 64 years: 7 - 9 hours
- 65 years and older: 7 -8 hours (2024)
To find Sleep Hygiene resources, visit the National Sleep Foundation's website at:
CDC. (2024) About Sleep. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/about/index.html
Healthline. (2024) 12 Tips For Better Sleep Hygiene. Healthline. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com/health/sleep-hygiene
NIH (2022) Insomnia: What is Insomnia? National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/insomnia
NIH (2022) Sleep Deprevention and Deficiency: How Sleep affects Your Health. National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute.Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-deprivation/health-effects
NIH. (2025) Narcolepsy. National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/narcolepsy
NIH. (2025) Restless Leg Syndrome. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Retrieved from https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/restless-legs-syndrome
NIH (2025) Sleep Apnea: What is Sleep Apnea. National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute. Retrieved from https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/sleep-apnea
Solodar. (2025) Sleep Hygeine: Simple practices for better rest. Harvard Health Publishing. Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/sleep-hygiene-simple-practices-for-better-rest
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