Women can’t catch enough ZZZs
Submitted on March 6, 2007 - 5:42pm.
Kayla Webley
Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
WASHINGTON - College student Crystal Broadwater can’t fall asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. It isn’t that she doesn’t want to go to bed earlier, she just can’t.
“Sometimes I wish I could go to sleep before then, but my body says no,” she said.
Broadwater, 23, has to wake up for class or her job as a pharmacy tech at CVS by 8 or 9 a.m., giving her just four or five hours in bed a night.
Broadwater isn’t alone. According to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, more than half of American women say they get a good night’s sleep only a few days a week or less.
“American women are not sleeping well, and that is affecting all aspects of their life,” said Kathryn Lee, a professor of family health care nursing at the University of California, San Francisco, who worked on the study.
The study found 80 percent of women who don’t get enough sleep experience high stress. Others spend less time with family and friends, are too tired for sex, drive drowsy and are late for work, she said.
The study, released during National Sleep Awareness week (March 5 to 11) is based on a telephone survey of more than 1,000 women, ages 18 to 64. The study purposely over sampled pregnant and postpartum women. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Women are struggling to “do it all” and as a result sacrifice their sleep, Lee said.
When women are tired or run out of time during the day, they are most likely to cut out sleep. They also stop exercising, spending time with their friends and family, eating healthy and having sex. But work remains a priority. Only 20 percent of women put work on the back burner, the study found.
Single, working women spend the least amount of time in bed, generally less than six hours a night. Of these women, 54 percent wake up feeling un-refreshed a few days a week. Married women with children who work full time also spend less than six hours in bed at night and 72 percent have insomnia. They also have the highest rate of drowsy driving.
But working women aren’t the only ones missing sleep. Seventy-four percent of stay-at-home moms said they rarely get a good night’s sleep, and in the hour before bed, most are still busy with household chores and activities with children.
Dr. Meir Kryger, director of research and education for the Gaylord Sleep Center at Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford, Conn., who also worked on the study, said there is an illusion that stay-at-home moms have a lot of free time, but the study proved otherwise.
“A stay-at-home mom has a job. She’s the last one to bed and the first one up in the morning,” he said.
Moms who work part time reported getting the best sleep of any group. Half said they are in bed for more than eight hours a night.
Kryger said the ability to get more sleep is probably why some women choose to work part time when they have children.
Eighty percent of women simply accept their daytime sleepiness and keep going, but 65 percent turn to caffeine for an extra boost. Of those who drink caffeinated beverages, 37 percent consume more than three a day.
The study group recommends that women get between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. For those feeling tired or not getting enough sleep, the group suggests creating a more relaxing environment for sleep, exercising regularly, eating healthy and avoiding both caffeine and alcohol a few hours before bed.
“People have to make sleep a priority,” Kryger said, adding that sleep should as important as healthy eating or frequent exercise.
Sleep Stats:
Of the more than 1,000 women surveyed by the National Sleep Foundation’s study:
60 percent say they only get a good night’s sleep a few nights per week or less.
67 percent experience sleep problems at least a few nights each week, with 46 percent experiencing sleep problems every night.
47 percent say they have no one helping them care for children at night.
21 percent spend the hour before bed doing work related to their jobs, and 60 percent spend that time completing household chores.
Women who allow children (9 percent) or pets (14 percent) to share their beds have the most disturbed sleep.
Working mothers (72 percent) and single working women (68 percent) are more likely to experience sleep problems, including insomnia.
Sleep Tips
The National Sleep Foundation’s healthy sleep tips:
Use your bedroom only for sleep and sex.
Make sure your room is dark, quiet and cool.
Finish eating at least two to three hours before bedtime.
Sleep on a comfortable mattress and pillows.
Have a regular, relaxing bedtime routine.
Exercise regularly, at least a few hours before bedtime.
Keep a regular bedtime and wake schedule, including weekends.
If you have difficultly sleeping, talk with your doctor.
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