Following World Sleep Day (March 17), fitness-tracking firm Fitbit has released their survey findings on the average sleeping time of various countries. The results show that Singaporeans are among the poorest sleepers in the world, after Japanese and Indians. The average sleep time was just 6.56 hours while New Zealanders had the most amount of sleep with an average of 7.25 hours a night.
The survey was conducted among anonymous and aggregated users from 18 countries between January to December last year. The list was dominated by European countries and Australia, while Asian countries like Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan were placed at the bottom.
Fitbit also provides two dynamic sleep tools that provide users with deeper insights on their sleep. A report on Times of India elaborated, "Sleep Stages and Sleep Insights, providing information on sleep quality and advice on how to improve sleep patterns. Fitbit has sold over 60 million devices globally till date, out of which 22 million were sold in 2016 itself. The majority of sales have been for sleep tracking devices including Charge HR, Blaze, Alta, Charge 2 and Flex 2 making them the best sellers."
Earlier, studies conducted by The University of Michigan and SingHealth Polyclinics also reported that Singaporeans are the worst sleepers in the world. In a detailed report on sleep deprivation, Today Online stated, "SingHealth warned that insufficient sleep can increase the risk of mental, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Some common ailments associated with lack of sleep include obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention."
On the flip side, getting enough sleep is a perfect example of a good lifestyle. Lack of sleep has been linked to heart disease, obesity, diabetes and poor mental health. Tracking and analyzing sleep patterns can reveal a lot of details about a person's lifestyle. It also helps in identifying variations that can be indicative of other issues.
