1. God designed sleep to be an essential drive in nature. All nature sleeps. Even trees sleep in the winter months.
2. The top four sleep killers are stress, anxiety/worry, depression and caffeine consumption.
3. Though millions of people walk around tired every day (about 62% of us!), many of us will not do anything about it because we tend to associate sleep with laziness.
4. 85% of the U.S. population drinks caffeinated-laced beverages daily.
5. Three-hundred million cups of coffee are consumed in the U.S. each day, making it the second most commonly traded commodity in the world.
6. I am currently drinking my second cup of caffeinated-laced beverage this morning.
7. Sleep deficits have been implicated in many major public catastrophes, including the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez, the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger, and the nuclear accidents at Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Peach Bottom.
8. Two major sleep destroyers in marriage are failure to resolve conflicts before bedtime and failure to synchronize sleep patterns.
9. About 80% of wives cannot sleep after an argument.
10. I think my husband actually sleeps better after an argument, which is why I sometimes accidentallyonpurpose kick him, just to even out those statistics.
11. Sleepiness while driving a vehicle causes more than 30,000 accidents a year and more than 3 million disabling injuries.
12. In 1960, the average number of hours an American slept a night was 8. Today it is 6.7.
13. About 43 million prescriptions for sleeping pills were filled in the U.S. in 2005.
14. In children, each additional hour of sleep decreases the child’s chances of becoming obese by 9%.
15. Not getting enough sleep can deprive your brain of oxygen.
16. During sleep, glands and muscles rejuvenate, growth hormone is released, damaged cells repair themselves, and newly-learned information is synthesized and saved into long-term memory.
17. If you are sleep-deprived, you have up to seven days to “catch up” on your sleep to avoid long-term effects of your sleep deprivation.
18. Adolescents who watch more than 3 hours of TV a day have a significantly elevated risk for sleep problems in early adulthood, regardless of age, gender or home factors.
19. Research shows that napping is healthful, improves memory, increases vigor and decreases late afternoon lethargy.
20. Most people are embarrassed to say they nap because they think it sounds wasteful and self-indulgent.
21. I nap almost every day and I’m not embarrassed to tell you this. Probably because I am both wasteful and self-indulgent.
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For more info on sleep deprivation and its link to obesity, read my post Write Blogs or Saw Logs.
My blog-friend Shelly at Life on the Wild Side is hosting a really cool giveaway today! Very, very cool bags. And here’s a Weird But True Factoid: My two sisters-in-law design and create all the products in this particular company. Shelly met my sis-in-law while shopping at a market in Wheaton, Il! Is this not totally crazy? You must get in on this giveaway.
And finally, after a five month hiatus, my fitness partner in crime is posting again! Check out Sarah at All Pain No Gain, where she is talking about creating a calorie deficit. Make sure you click on her links to see her VERY COOL treadmill work out. Wow!
*****All interesting facts, except for the ones about me, personally, were taken directly out of the book Sleep: It Does A Family Good, How Busy Families Can Overcome Sleep Deprivation, by Dr. Archibald D. Hart. Great read.
You (and God) are stepping on my toes this week!
Think I will read some of this to the children. The later they get to bed, the later I get to bed BUT they are getting up earlier these days….arg…PS, I don't do coffee!
I'm having the same problem that "Oh Dear" is having. My kids are getting up earlier and earlier… It's killing me.
Kris and I are very much night time people. It's where we get all of our "our time". We've tried laying them down later… they just get up earlier. The only thing that seems to work is actually laying them down earlier.
Kris and I have also been trying to make it a goal to head up to bed by 10:00 (HA!) By the time we brush our teeth, change, clothes, etc… It's well past 11:00. Time just slips away at night!
And I find it pathetic on my part that I can drink a regular (not decaf) cup of coffee right before going to bed and it not phase me one bit. That should tell you right there that I need to lay off the caffein!!!
EEEK! I totally forgot to put the name of the book with all the interesting facts. As if I just came up with this stuff off the top of my head. Sheeesh!!
I added it.
Oh Dear, you may want to pick up the book. The section on on kids and sleep is fantastic. Especially the parts about the brain and learning. Wow.
Sandy
I think I'll take a nap now. 🙂 Even though it's only 8:40am, hehe. But really, I love naps, and I always feel guilty when I take them… so I will stop doing that. Thank you for the information!
I posted an article this week on Sleep Deprivation. I think the Lord is telling us something!
http://www.beelieveyoucan.net/2010/05/5-signals-youre-sleep-deprived.html
I share in the indulgent napping. I find that I CANNOT get all the sleep I need at night during this time of my life so mommy is a big fan of "I'm just going to close my eyes and put my feet up for a little bit." I'm a morning person no matter what time I go to bed and even when I'm intentional about going to bed early, something (or someone!) nearly always wakes me so the afternoon 30 minutes or so is a good fill-in. Thanks for the sleep info – as summer approaches maybe it's a better time to try to make more changes!!
As the victim, er husband, whom you kick at night, I've wondered why I wake up sore in the mornings. Now I know.
One funny/ironic twist to your post — as I was reading it, Pandora was playing in the background and a commercial for "5-Hour Energy" came on. Great timing.
I love you,
Jon
So, FF Girl, at what point time-wise does the afternoon nap become a hinderance instead of a pick me up?
Just curious. How long is your average nap? Do you set an alarm of do you wake up on your own?
I have a very, very hard time waking up after an afternoon siesta!
I am SO relieved to hear someone else admit to taking a nap almost everyday! I do and often feel guilty about it…I tell myself that once the girls are older maybe I won't need it, but I secretly don't think that is true!
I tell people it's like my restart button…I need to restart and refresh my brain once a day!