Getting enough sleep? Study reveals which nation hits the hay the hardest

Despite being one of the most natural and necessary aspects of human existence, getting a good night’s sleep is not always straight forward. And whether it’s general life stress, digital distractions or simply one too many coffees throughout the day – there’s a whole lot of factors at play that could potentially disrupt a decent sleep schedule.

But with the world getting busier and a full night’s rest getting harder to master, some countries are simply doing better at creating a restful environment that improves overall sleep quality. So to find which nation is truly the getting the best rest, German CBD and hemp supplier VAAY conducted a research project known as the City Sleep Index 2020 that looked at nine universal factors across 75 global cities.

Each city was given an overall mark out of 100 after being scored across the board for the each of the individual factors. The only city to score top marks and consequently take the crown as the best-rested place in the world was Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Coming in second place with a score of 96.2 was Auckland in New Zealand followed by Glasgow, UK with 88.6. Australian cities scored a bit further down the line with Sydney coming in 12th place with a score of 79.3 and Melbourne coming 14th with 79 points.

Coming in dead last with a score of just one was Sao Paulo in Brazil followed by Tokyo, Japan with just 2.3 points. American cities Los Angeles and Las Vegas both found themselves at the bottom of the list with Seoul in South Korea rounding out the five cities with the worst sleep schedules.

To find the winner, the report looked at mental well-being, including mental health and societal stress which focused on anxiety formed as a result of the pandemic. It also looked at physical health through the level of caffeine, nicotine and alcohol consumption as well as the impacts of chronic pain while considering countries with older populations.

It then evaluated general life factors such as the percentage of the population who worked over 48 hours in one week, employment and finances, environmental health and the level of pollution. Actual sleep duration was also taken into consideration as well as the percentage of those not getting at least seven hours a night.

And while a lack of sleep is known to leave you feeling drained and a bit foggy the next morning, last month, a study published in the American Academy of Sleep Medicine found that not getting enough shut-eye could also make you an angrier person. The study found that those who were more sleep deprived exhibited higher and increased anger response to irritating noises, suggesting that a lack of sleep could also undermine emotional adaptation to frustrating circumstances.

If you don’t think you’re getting enough sleep throughout the night, experts say the consequences could become noticeable it in your day to day life. The increase of everyday issues like forgetfulness, feeling run-down, lack of good judgement, increased appetite, weight gain and increased moodiness may all be signs of a low-quality sleep schedule.