This month the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation (CMHF) and Intensions Consulting released a new study examining the sleep habits of Canadian men.
 |
| Dr. Larry Goldenberg, CMHF |
The study, which surveyed 500 Canadian men between the ages of 30 and
49, found that a third (33%) of men are only getting 4 to 6 hours of
sleep each night. This amount of sleep is much lower than the 7 to 8
hours recommended by health experts, and may explain why nearly half of
Canadian men (49%) said they often wake up feeling tired or not
refreshed in the morning.
“Men
may be surprised to learn that getting at least 7 hours of sleep is a
great way to speed up your metabolism, reduce your chances of having a
heart attack, prostate cancer and developing type 2 diabetes,” said Dr. Larry Goldenberg, Chairman of the CMHF. “In
some cases, for men experiencing erectile dysfunction, the cause may be
OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) which is characterized by snoring and
breathless spells during sleep. Overall, sleep impacts your health and
well-being.”
When exploring evening routines that could contribute to this lack of
sleep, the study found that 45% of Canadian men often stay up late
watching television, 41% often stay up late browsing the Internet, and
34% often eat food before going to bed. All three of these evening
routines are easy to change, and all three were found to have a
significant impact on the average amount of sleep men get each night.
“It’s can be tough to switch off electronic devices before you go to sleep, but the mind needs time to unwind,” said Shea Emry, CMHF Champion and retired CFL linebacker. “Guys
shouldn’t underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep to ensure a
healthy state of mind for their mental health and well-being.”
ABOUT THIS STUDY
These are the findings of an Intensions Consulting study conducted between April 26, 2016 and April 29, 2016, on behalf of the Canadian Men’s Health Foundation. For this study, an online survey was administered with a sample of 500 English-speaking Canadian men between the ages of 30 and 49. The sample was stratified to reflect the distribution of Canadian men aged 30 to 49 living in different Canadian provinces, according to Census 2011 data. A traditional unweighted probability sample of this size would produce results considered accurate to within plus or minus 4.4 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. For more information about this study, please click here.