According to the Apple Watch, you are sleep deprived. A clinical study shows that users of the connected watch from Apple do not get enough sleep!
The World Health Organization (WHO) and most groups working to improve health recommend getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. And this varies according to age: for a teenager, the recommended duration of sleep will turn rather between 11 to 14 hours. What about the facts? Unsurprisingly, unfortunately, these rules are not followed to the letter!
Sleep needs that are not sufficiently met
A study by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston takes stock of this delicate subject, based on the sleep records of 42,000 Apple Watch owners. Since watchOS 7, the connected watch from Apple has integrated its own sleep monitoring program (third-party applications could, and still can, take care of it). The information collected by the device is quite limited, it simply makes it possible to identify the different phases of sleep at night.
Nevertheless, these data are sufficient to identify major trends. On average, Apple Watch users sleep 6 hours and 27 minutes each night, which is below the WHO recommended minimum. 4 out of 10 people sleep between six and seven hours each day, 3 out of 10 at least seven hours each day. 20% of users are content with five to six hours a night. And 8% of them sleep less than five hours!
Another lesson: bedtime. On weekdays, 66% of Apple Watch users fall asleep before midnight, while on weekends only 56% go to bed before midnight. The prospect of being able to sleep a little longer on Saturdays and Sundays allows individuals to stay up late. A habit broken by the authors of the study, for whom it is better to fall asleep around the same hours both during the week and during the weekend…
The Apple Watch and iPhone include several features to help users improve their sleep. It is thus possible to activate a “sleep mode” which will put most of the functions of the two devices on standby in order to encourage the person to go to bed. You can also use concentration modes to gradually reduce the number of notifications and even temporarily erase apps and remove features. They will come back in the morning!
Sleeping well is absolutely essential for good health! Adopting healthy habits in this area can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and depression. They also prevent the decline of the immune system. Suffice to say that it is essential from now on to take your sleep seriously.