CDC: 28% U.S. adults don't get enough sleep 50% of time or more

By William Atkins
Saturday, 31 October 2009 21:12

Science - Health

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) studied hundreds of thousands of adults in the United States concerning their sleep habits during a one-month period. Many of us are not getting enough sleep each night, especially those in the southeastern part of the country.


The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) article “Perceived Insufficient Rest or Sleep Among Adults --- United States, 2008” shows how much sleep adults (people 18 years and older) get on an average night.

The report breaks down the statistics on such things as where people live in each of the fifty states of the United States, the District of Columbia, and the three U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands.

The October 2009 issue of the MMWR, published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported the research of Dr. L.R. McKnight-Eily and fellow colleagues of the CDC.

The researchers used 2008 data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), which is provided by the CDC.

They surveyed about 404,000 adults from each of the fifty U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and the three U.S. territories.

One finding was:

•    The report stated that over 11% of adults report that they did not get enough sleep every night in the previous month.

In fact, the October 30, 2009 ABC News article Best and Worst States for Sleep stated, “If you don't get enough sleep, you have plenty of company. More than 11 percent of adults said there was not a single day in the previous month when they got enough shuteye, government researchers reported.”

Page two reports other findings of the CDC study.