How many hours sleep according to age?
We all need sleep, but how many hours do you have to sleep to have a healthy life? In this article, we show the rest needs according to age.
Always, many scientific debates have tried to postulate how many hours we need to sleep. In general, most specialists determine that it takes about eight hours to enjoy an optimal rest. However, sleeping is conditioned by the lifestyle, age, and health of each person. Not everyone needs the same sleep.
The age and rhythm of life of each are ranked as the two most important factors in this regard. Hence, the number of hours of sleep can vary from one individual to another.
How many hours do you have to sleep
The ‘National Sleep Foundation’ (or National Sleep Foundation) is an American research institute that studies how to improve people’s health and well-being through sleep. This organization ensures that you have to sleep a minimum of hours depending on the age of each one.
The National Sleep Foundation’s classification of hours of sleep is as follows:
- Newborns between 0 and 3 months: they must sleep between 14 and 17 hours a day (it is also accepted that they can do it between 11 and 13 hours).
- Babies from 4 to 11 months: they have to sleep between 12 and 15 hours a day, but never more than 16 or 18 hours.
- Young children 1–2 years old: it is recommended that they rest between 11 and 14 hours a day.
- Children 3–5 years old: the best thing at this age would be to sleep between 10 and 13 hours a day.
- School-age children from 6 to 13 years old: they should sleep between 9 and 11 hours a day.
- Adolescents from 14 to 17 years old: the ideal would be to sleep an average of 10 hours a day.
- Younger adults from 18 to 25 years: the most advisable thing is to sleep between 7 and 9 hours a day, never less than 6 hours nor more than 10–11 hours.
- Adults from 26 to 64 years: it is advisable to sleep between 7 and 9 hours.
- Adults over 65 years: rest between 7–8 hours a day.
Getting enough and adequate sleep is not just about total sleep. It is also very important that this dream is of quality. Also, the idea is to enjoy a uniform sleeping time. All this will help us feel much more rested the next day.
How to improve sleep
The specialists usually offer some advice and recommendations to sleep the appropriate hours according to the age range. The most advisable thing is to try to maintain a balanced sleep schedule, even on weekends. Besides, you need to practice a routine for relaxed sleep and physical exercise daily.
The first can be achieved by enabling ideal conditions for sleep. These conditions could be enjoying a good mattress and a comfortable pillow. But also, having an adequate temperature in the room and without any kind of light or annoying noises. It is also recommended to reduce the consumption of alcohol and products that contain caffeine. It is also not recommended to use electronic devices just before bed.
The benefits of sleeping well
Sleeping the recommended hours has numerous positive effects on the body. There are some of these effects that are considered more beneficial than others. On the one hand, creativity is increased and memory works perfectly. This is achieved because the brain has rested enough.
Besides, by sleeping well, neural connections are strengthened. Hence the imagination is more powerful and we are more creative.
Sleeping makes us healthier.
The immune system uses sleep time to regenerate. This causes the body to become much stronger against toxins and germs from outside. A recent study ensures that people who get little sleep are more likely to suffer from heart failure.
Insomnia increases blood levels of stress hormones. This causes an increase in blood pressure and heart rate in the body. The calm produced by sleeping well facilitates the creation of melanin and serotonin. These hormones help us to be happier and emotionally stronger. For this reason, lack of sleep in people is associated with problems of stress, anxiety, and depression. Lastly, not sleeping well causes fat cells to release less leptin. The latter is the appetite suppressant hormone. Thus, numerous studies associate insomnia with obesity problems.
In short, sleep is a very important factor for health. If you have insomnia problems, try to practice relaxation. But it is not only the hours we sleep that depend on it. Sleep also needs to be of quality. So much so that if this quality is adequate, the hours of sleep can vary from one person to another.
