In case you didn’t know, Friday was World Sleep Day, and Sealy NZ is once again ‘lifting the covers’ on how Kiwis are sleeping,

New research is revealing that 90 per cent of New Zealanders believe our personal lives would benefit from better sleep.

As part of Sealy’s Global Sleep Survey that explores the sleep habits of over 20,000 people worldwide, Sealy NZ conducted a follow-on from its 2021 New Zealand Sleep Census, alongside Clinical Psychologist and Sleep Expert Dr. Kimberly Falconer, with the aim to further understand how Kiwis are sleeping and to identify ways to improve sleep quality.

The study shows that there is a need to educate on ‘sleep efficiency’ vs ‘sleep duration’.

While more than half (55 per cent) of Kiwis are getting the recommended seven to eight hours sleep a night, a staggering 60 per cent reported waking up feeling unrested at least five days a week.

Troublingly, one in 10 Kiwis admit to never waking up feeling refreshed, with this number increasing to one in 4 Kiwis who work rotating/changing shifts.

Kiwis’ sleep habits are affecting our sleep quality, in some cases more than our global neighbours.

Of the global markets surveyed, New Zealanders were the highest consumers of caffeinated drinks with 93 per cent of us consuming at least one caffeinated drink daily (vs 86 per cent of the global sample), with one in nine consuming their caffeinated drink in the hour before they went to bed.

Device use before bed was higher in New Zealand than the global average (77 per cent) with 83 per cent of Kiwis reporting that they watch television either inside or outside the bedroom, or use an electronic device for entertainment prior to going to bed. Malaysia (84 per cent) was the only country to top New Zealand for device use before bed.

Kiwis (48 per cent) are also more likely than our Australian (39 per cent) neighbours to use a device for social media/messaging before bed.

The more often someone sleeps near their phone, the less likely they are to wake feeling refreshed and well-rested. This trend is troubling, with 65 per cent of New Zealanders leaving their mobile phones close to their bed while they sleep. This statistic is much higher for under 25s (87 per cent).

The 2024 theme for World Sleep Day is “Sleep Equity for Global Health”, and unfortunately women seem to be drawing the short stick.

Women are 58 per cent more likely to experience trouble with getting to sleep and staying asleep, data that Dr Falconer says corresponds to what she sees in clinical practice with woman being significantly more likely to present with insomnia than men.

Unfortunately, the research results also revealed that women are more likely than men to have their lives affected by a lack of sleep, reporting that when they were tired they were more likely to not stick to their usual routine (20 per cent vs 9 per cent), not exercise (36 per cent vs 22 per cent), eat more/eat poorly (39 per cent vs 15 per cent), get irritable or snappy with coworkers, friends and family (32 per cent vs 19 per cent) and not be as productive as they would normally be (43 per cent vs 24 per cent).

And then there’s some pretty wild and amusing stats.

Despite weather typically being warmer in Australia, New Zealanders (18 per cent) were more likely than Australians (13 per cent) to sleep nude.

Additionally, a quarter (25 per cent) of Kiwi men report they sleep nude… vs 12 per cent of Kiwi women.