Exactly how many hours do you actually need to sleep to be rested? The answer according to your age!

Adults sleep an average of eight hours a night. However, several studies have shown that this figure tends to decrease over the years. Also, we see that sleep is less and less restful, particularly because it is disrupted by numerous factors linked to our modern lifestyle. But did you know thatdepending on your age, our sleep needs change ? A child, an adolescent and an elderly person do not have the same needs.

But then, how many hours of sleep do we really need as adults? The National Institute of Sleep and Vigilance gives a clear and precise answer in a new report. At birth, a newborn needs about 16 to 17 hours of sleep, a toddler needs between 10 and 12 hours of sleep. From adolescence, the numbers decrease, we go to approximately 10 hours of sleep. As adults, our bodies require at least 7 hours of sleep.

Sleep time which also differs depending on gender

As we said above, if the quantity of sleep decreases, unfortunately so does its quality. “Lhas quality sleep reduces steadily with age: if the child has 30% deep sleep at 10 years old, in adulthood, the average is 20%. At 80 years old, it is exceptional to still have deep slow-wave sleep. In the elderly, deep slow-wave sleep has become rare, it becomes lighter, sleep has become unstable, awakenings during sleep are more frequent and longer. Waking up occurs earlier.

Also, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos,Sleep time would be different between men and women : “There are actually more heavy sleepers than heavy sleepers and the explanations are essentially hormonal” explained Doctor Marc Rey, head of the Sleep and Vigilance Center at the Timone Hospital in Marseille on TF1.

And to add: “During the menstrual cycle, a woman experiences a variation in estrogen and progesterone levels which causes periods of fatigue, lack of sleep or fragmented sleep.”