50+ Napping Statistics and Facts to Know in 2024 | Maqvi News

Sleeping at night could be difficult as you age, but you prefer to nap during the day. More than 50% of those above the age of 60 catnap. The ideal nap time is 15 to 30 minutes, offering several psychological and health benefits. However, a longer dozing period could lead to certain issues like insomnia. The science and flow of daytime sleep come with some complex, widespread indications that many are unaware of. However, this article analyses some facts, trends, benefits, and implications of napping. Keep reading to catch up with the latest must-know napping statistics.

General Napping Statistics and Facts

1. Over 80% of US residents catnap in the daytime.
2. We have three kinds of naps: habitual, emergency, and planned.
3. The ideal napping length is between twenty to thirty minutes. This dozing period represents the sweet spot for daytime sleep.
4. Catnaps of less than 20 minutes will impact your nighttime sleeping habits.
5. You will stand a chance of suffering insomnia when you doze for more than an hour.
6. The best napping time is 8 hours from your waking up period and 8 hours before retiring at night.
7. About 85% of mammals maintain polyphasic resting habits. This means it could take up some sleep during the day and night.

Benefits of Napping Statistics

8. You can get up to 10 hours of improved alertness from a catnap of 60 minutes.

9. Research shows that napping can produce an 11% increase in happiness. Also, it raises your interaction efficiency by 10%.

10. You can scale up your performance by more than 34% with just a short sleep of 40 minutes during the day.

11. Napping is an effective way of reversing some negative indications from loss of night sleep. Also, it could improve your body system from the implications of overeating.

12. A catnap of 6 minutes will enhance your memory and aid your information retention ability.

13. Dozing during the day for just 90 minutes produces the exact learning benefits of sleeping for 8 hours at night.

14. Napping at least twice a week could reduce the chances of heart disease by 12%. Extending the naps three times per week could give a 37% drop in potential heart disease.

15. Healthy sleep and nap periods are more common among married people, with 67% practicing. However, in such practices, the unmarried and divorced categories are rated 62% and 56%, respectively.

Napping Statistics – Demography

16. Men engage in napping more than their female counterparts. While 34% of the male folk catnap, 31% of the women do so. Moreover, 74% of females sleep less in the night than men.

17. About 52% of adults more than 80 years nap daily.

18. According to a study, 32% of nappers were whites, 33% were Hispanics, and 50% were blacks.

19. Up to 29% of those that nap have a high school degree or lower certificate.

20. 81% of adults take at least a catnap of 10 minutes or longer daily.

21. 72% of people with a college degree or higher certification sleep more than 51% of the unemployed.

Napping at Work Statistics

22. US employers lose about $136 billion yearly in productivity costs from workers’ lack of naps and sleep.

23. 16% of firms provide a special room where staff can nap.

24. About 34% of employers, such as Google, Zappos, Uber, and others, tolerate staff napping at the office.

25. 33% of people earn over $100,000 per annum nap compared to 42% of those who make below $30,000.

Other Napping Statistics and Facts

26. Changes in Nap Length.

Nap Length seems to drop as people advance in age. However, the frequency of the short sleep could increase. People between the ages of 25 and 34 have an average nap length of over 60 minutes. Those 55 years and above can catnap for an average of 43.4 minutes. Both groups get a decline in the napping period with increasing age. The category of people aged 24 to 34 napped, on average, 84.8 days a year. Those aged 55 and more napped an average of 135.7 days yearly. Generally, 18.1% of nappers prefer longer napping periods.

27. The Napping’ Sweet Spot’ – How We Feel After a Nap.

Usually, napping should be a refreshing feeling to people, though the study revealed a different disposition. 49.1% of nappers feel refreshed, while 52.6% expressed grogginess after catnap. Further, 38.5% of nappers said they felt satisfied, while 25.2% indicated they felt well-rested. While 35.3% feel tired, 14% feel irritable, and 9.8% feel achy. Moreover, 6.9% of nappers feel pain-free, while 9.2% feel anxious after napping.

The “Sweet spot” of napping is between 20 and 30 minutes. Such a brief sleep stage is also referred to as a power nap. It is a period in which you can get a light rest without slipping into deeper or heavier sleep during the day. The effectiveness is still prominent even as the sleeper gets a short dozing. Research revealed that the brain still gets enough time to enhance most functions of the body with sweet spot nap. It will improve your cognitive functions like memory and increase logical reasoning.

Sleep Disorders Statistics

Usually, an adult needs a minimum of 7 hours of sleep each night to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Notably, more than 20% of Americans suffer from Shift Work Sleep Disorder, a notable medical condition. Here are some sleep disorders and facts about their impact.

Insomnia

This sleep disorder indicates a person’s inability to sleep or chronic sleeplessness. With insomnia, you will find it almost impossible to stay asleep at the right time.

28. About 6% of adults are battling with insomnia.

29. Each company in the United States incurs an estimated $63.2 billion in costs due to insomnia every year.

30. Women suffer more from insomnia than male folk. One out of every four women encounters this type of sleep disorder.

Hypersomnia

This is another form of sleep disorder that results in much sleepiness in the daytime. This means that the patient spends more time to sleep during the day.

31. Between 4% – 6% of the overall US population suffer hypersomnia.

32. About 0.026% of people can’t regulate sleep-wake cycles properly. The major affecting factor is hypersomnia through narcolepsy.

33. Men suffer more from hypersomnia than women.

Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS)

This sleep disorder triggers a repeated halt and restart of breathing while sleeping.

34. About 1% to 3% of preschool children suffer from OSAS.

35. The disorder’s prominence ranks between 10% – 12% in children who snore habitually.

36. OSAS is seen in over 20% of adults through sleep assessment tests.

Shift Worker Disorder

Also known as Shift work sleep disorder (SWSD), this is a condition that highlights too much sleeping and insomnia. It’s prominent among people with work schedules extending to normal sleep periods, mostly night workers.

37. SWSD is prominent in about 5% to 10% of night-shift workers.

38. Up to 20% of the working population in both North America and Europe suffer from this disorder.

39. About 37.5% of drives from SWSD patients are ranked as unsafe.

Delayed Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (DSWPD) 

This sleep disorder indicates a delay in the day and night cycle. This makes a person suddenly sleep off and wake up in the daytime.

40. A total of 8% of American teenagers suffer from the disorder.

41. About 51% of people with DSWPD have an associated history of depression.

42. Up to 45% of youths with the disorder indicated behavioral issues. However, 59% of adolescents with DSWPD showed a decline in their academic performance.

Advanced Sleep-Wake Phase Disorder (ASWPD)

This is a type of sleep disorder where the patient experiences a shift in the daily rhythm. In most cases, the person will have to get to bed earlier and will wake even before dawn. Also, it is referred to as Advanced Sleep Phase Syndrome (ASPS).

43. Parents can transfer ASPS to their kids up to 50%. This means that the disorder could be hereditary.

Statistics on Sleep Needs by Age

44. Generally, 59% of adult Americans sleep for at least 7 hours at night.

45. The older a person is, the longer the sleep and nap periods they take. Adults aged 65 and above sleep more, while those between 18 and 29 years take less sleeping time.

46. Though teenagers are supposed to get between 8 and 10 hours of sleep and naps, most have 6.5 to 7.5 hours of daily sleep.

47. 37% of those aged 20 to 39 experience lower sleep and nap duration every day. The table below provides the average period for sleep and naps according to age categories.

The Sleep Cycle

During a typical sleep period, we pass through four to six stages or cycles. The two major phases are the Non-REM (NREM) and REM sleep.

Non-REM Sleep 

This is a phase in your sleep where the body starts moving into the relaxation realm. It involves three different stages.

Stage 1 – This is the stage of light sleep, which could likely wake up from any slight disturbance. Gradually, your body will loosen up as you drift into the subconscious state of sleep.

Stage 2 – Your body moves into a more stable sleep at this stage, making it quite difficult to wake up. Moreover, your brain waves and other different body functions slow down and could gradually stop. Additionally, your heart rate and blood pressure retards even as eye movements stop. The overall body metabolism drops by almost 15% at the second stage of NREM.

Stage 3 – This is the final stage of the NREM phase of a sleep cycle and is associated with deep sleep. Muscle and eye movement completely cease as your body prepares to start dreaming. Also, this marks the most critical phase of sleep, which is majorly responsible for regenerating the brain and body. Interestingly, deep sleep drops across the lifespan since we get less of it as we age.

REM (Rapid Eye Movement) Sleep

REM sleep is the phase that takes you completely into the dream realm. At this stage, the body becomes physically immobile with shallow breathing. Also, the brain and the body start rejuvenating and repairing from the previous day’s activities. The phase gets us ready physically and mentally to face the next day. Moreover, REM sleep is the deepest sleeping stage, where our eyes move rapidly. It constitutes about 20% to 25% of the overall sleep cycle in healthy adults.

48. 54% of adults like to sleep on their side while maintaining the fetal position. Conversely, 38% sleep on their back, while 7% prefer to lie on their stomach when sleeping.

49. Generally, the body temperature drops when sleeping and rises at the wake phase of the sleep cycle.

50. On average, we dream for two hours at night, especially during the REM phase of sleep.

51. The sleep cycle occurs multiple times within a single sleep period.

52. There’s a change in the time spent on each stage of sleep during each cycle.

Conclusion

Napping has great benefits that revitalize our bodies and position us for more achievement. A short sleep of just 6 minutes will repair your retentive memory and improve your productivity throughout the day. With good timing for naps, you will accomplish more during the day and enjoy great sleep at night.

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