Getting a good night’s sleep

National Bed Month, running throughout March (2010), is a campaign to raise awareness of the importance of a comfortable bed in maintaining good sleeping patterns, essential for the body to obtain restful sleep and be able to perform efficiently during waking hours.

The campaign is run by the Sleep Council, an organisation dedicated to promoting the importance of a good night’s sleep, which was voted top in a recent survey of life’s pleasures. The council provides advice and information on the choice of a suitable bed and how best to get a restful night’s sleep, and also gives advice on children’s sleeping patterns and problems.

It is currently campaigning for sleep education to be taught as part of the school curriculum, to give students useful advice on this important but often neglected part of their lifestyle.

The recently published “Goodnight guide for children” (PDF 340K) gives advice to parents on how best to establish good sleeping routines. It includes information on the amount of sleep required by children of different ages, from toddlers to teenagers, and how to approach bedtime, such as the setting of routines to create an environment conducive to sleep.

It also give information on current opinion on preparing the body for sleep, such as what to eat and drink, and what to avoid when. The website even includes a “bed MOT”, a questionnaire that advises whether or not an old bed requires replacing.

I have commented before on the physiological importance of sleep (PJ, 12 September 2009, p285), but National Bed Month is concerned with helping individuals obtain sufficient sleep of the right quality.

A recent study published in the journal Sleep found that the amount of sleep enjoyed by adolescents was related to the incidence of depression, with those obtaining no more than five hours of sleep per night being 71 per cent more likely to suffer depression than those sleeping for eight or more hours.

During sleep the brain repairs itself — and the more of it used during the day, the longer the recovery time required during sleep. Studies have shown that women require more sleep than men, and the theory is that this is because women tend to multi-task, using more of the brain. I, for one, feel that more research is required in this area.