A new survey on sleep habits around the globe finds that people in Japan and the U.S. get less sleep than those in other countries. Meanwhile, one-third of Brits sleep naked.
The U.S. National Sleep Foundation released its first international poll Tuesday, the 2013 International Bedroom Poll, comparing sleep times and habits of those in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, and Japan, with roughly 250 people from each country participating.
Japanese and Americans report sleeping about 30 to 40 minutes less on workdays, averaging around six hours of sleep a night. To compensate for the lack of shut-eye, half of both Japanese and Americans said that they had taken at least one nap in the past two weeks. Every country reported sleeping in on weekends, with an average of an extra 45 minutes of sleep on days they do not work.
In additional, 48 percent of people in Mexico, 44 percent in the U.S., 43 percent in Canada, 42 percent in the U.K., 40 percent in Germany, and 54 percent in Japan say they get a good night's sleep every night or almost every night on work nights or week nights.
Yet, 27 percent in the U.K., 25 percent in the U.S., and 23 percent in Canada said that they rarely or never slept well. Notably, one in ten in the UK say they never get a good night's sleep on work nights, twice the percentage of the other countries surveyed.
The poll also found some intriguing cultural differences: more than one-half of Mexicans meditate or pray before bed, while one-third of people in the U.K. sleep naked. Four in ten of those in the U.K. also drink a soothing beverage such as tea before bed.
At least two-thirds of people in all countries surveyed say that they watch TV in the hour before bed.
