We spend about a third of our lives asleep, but the ideal amount of sleep varies from person to person. While eight hours per night is often recommended, your sleep needs change over time. Babies and children require more sleep, whereas adults aged 65 and older can often function well with slightly less than seven to nine hours. Here’s what experts in sleep science and medicine say about the optimal amount of sleep and whether gender influences it.
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Night Sleep quality over quantity
Despite being crucial for our health, sleep remains somewhat of a mystery. We don’t fully understand the reasons, but it’s something essential for everyone, says Dr. Rafael Pelayo, a sleep specialist at Stanford University. Sleep is truly remarkable it’s the most natural form of self-care we have. According to Molly Atwood, a behavioral sleep medicine expert at Johns Hopkins, most people sleep between seven to nine hours, a range linked to the lowest risk of health issues. Once people either dip into less than six hours of sleep or get more than nine hours on average, the risk of health problems inches up, Atwood said, but everybody is different.
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