Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMagazine - Jan21 - Flipbook - Page 35
sleep
How do older people
sleep differently?
Most people sleep between 7 and 9
hours each day. However, they may
not get all their sleep at night. Around 4
in 10 older people have at least one 30minute nap every day. Most people
over the age of 80 nap for more than
one hour each day. At night, some
older people take more than half an
hour to get to sleep. This is the case for
about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men.
Older people also tend to sleep lightly.
They wake up more often and spend
less time in deep, refreshing sleep.
Why does sleep change
as we age?
After middle age, our body clock
gradually changes. As we get older, the
hormones that help us sleep are
released earlier in the day. Some older
adults may feel sleepy earlier than they
used to and they make wake up in the
early hours of the morning.
Sleep Health Foundation
