{"id":199285,"date":"2025-08-07T05:27:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=199285"},"modified":"2025-08-07T05:27:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T05:27:13","slug":"how-much-sleep-you-need-depends-also-on-what-country-you-live-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2025\/08\/07\/how-much-sleep-you-need-depends-also-on-what-country-you-live-in\/","title":{"rendered":"How Much Sleep You Need Depends Also on What Country You Live In"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>We\u2019ve all heard it, \u201cYou need 8 hours of sleep.\u201d But what if that advice isn\u2019t as universal as we\u2019ve been led to believe? New research from the University of British Columbia challenges this assumption, suggesting that the ideal amount of sleep isn\u2019t fixed. It seems that it actually depends on where you live. Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Sleep needs are shaped by culture<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pnas.org\/doi\/10.1073\/pnas.2419269122\">A recent study<\/a> analysed sleep and health data from nearly 5000 individuals across 20 countries. It found that optimal sleep duration varies significantly between cultures. And more surprisingly they also found that people in countries where sleep is shorter don\u2019t necessarily suffer worse health outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the common advice to get eight hours of sleep, our findings suggest that sleep recommendations need to be adjusted based on cultural norms. There is no one-size-fits-all amount of sleep that works for everyone,\u201d said Dr. Steven Heine, the study\u2019s senior author.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What the data says<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.ubc.ca\/2025\/05\/whats-a-healthy-amount-of-sleep\/\">The graph<\/a> clearly illustrates just how varied average sleep duration is around the world. Japan, for instance, logs the lowest average at 6 hours and 18 minutes, while France tops the chart at 7 hours and 52 minutes. Canada represents the middle with 7 hours and 27 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these differences, researchers found no evidence that shorter average sleep times translated to worse health across nations. Instead, people who slept closer to their culture\u2019s norm reported better overall health, regardless of whether that norm was longer or shorter than the global average.<\/p>\n<p>This key insight reframes how we should think about sleep. It\u2019s not just about getting more. it\u2019s about getting the right amount for your context.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A cultural benchmark for health<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Dr. Christine Ou, study\u2019s lead author explained, \u201cThis suggests that the ideal amount of sleep is the amount that matches what is considered appropriate sleep in one&#8217;s cultural context.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, in all 20 countries studied, people were sleeping at least one hour less than what was considered culturally ideal. This gap may help explain some of the modern <a href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2023\/02\/16\/sleep-quality-may-be-more-important-than-duration\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sleep-related health challenges<\/a> and underlines the need for culturally tailored public health guidelines.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What this means for public health<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Traditionally, global sleep recommendations have taken a one-size-fits-all approach, 8 hours for adults, more for children and teens. But this research suggests such guidelines could be more effective if adapted to the cultural sleep norms of specific populations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSleep needs are flexible and shaped by cultural expectations,\u201d the study concludes. \u201cPeople from cultures with shorter sleep durations do not suffer from more negative health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So, the next time someone tells you to aim for 8 hours, consider where you live, and what\u2019s considered normal there. You might find that sleeping 7 hours is just right for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard it, \u201cYou need 8 hours of sleep.\u201d But what if that advice isn\u2019t as universal as we\u2019ve [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":193934,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[332],"tags":[8638,2040,8637,5773],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-199285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-and-training","tag-8-hours-of-sleep","tag-sleep","tag-sleep-length","tag-sleep-quality","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Much Sleep You Need Depends Also on What Country You Live In - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We\u2019ve all heard it, \u201cYou need 8 hours of sleep.\u201d But what if that advice isn\u2019t as universal as we\u2019ve been led to believe? 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