A research team at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) has found that people in countries with higher GDPs tend to go to bed later.
The research team analyzed data from 38,200 people in 11 countries who wore Nokia smartwatches for four years. They found that the average bedtime in the 11 countries was 1:01 AM and the average wake-up time was 7:42 AM. The research team found that people in countries with higher GDPs or cultures that are more collectivist tend to go to bed later.
Dr. Daniele Quercia, one of the researchers, said, "Sleep quantity and quality are affected by social factors as much as by personal factors. It seems that people in high-income countries go to bed later because they have longer working hours, and people in Japan and Spain, which have a strong collectivist culture, go to bed later because they have to respond to social demands."
Japan had the shortest average sleep duration, at less than 7 hours, while Finland had the longest average sleep duration, at about 8 hours. The research team also found that people who exercise more tend to fall asleep faster and wake up less at night.
Professor Cha Mi-young said, "Sleep is related to well-being, obesity, and dementia. In an aging society, we need to work together to ensure adequate sleep quantity and quality and improve sleep quality."
The research team said that more research is needed to generalize the findings, as the study was based on data from 11 countries.
https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/008/0004908674?sid=105
