Most developed societies in the West are currently plagued by endemic sleep loss, falling well short of the eight hours recommended by the World Health Organization. In particular, many children and young people are currently suffering from sleeping problems. A recent BBC documentary went so far as to label this a “crisis”.
Our bodies and brains need a minimum of seven to eight hours each night to fully restore their physiological and neurological operations. If we don’t get the rest we need, we increase our risk of obesity, of diabetes, heart disease and dementia. Our brain and memory functions diminish as sleep escapes us, and there is an intimate link between a wide variety of mental health conditions and irregular or lost sleep.
