Sleep watchdog sets new guidelines

The US National Sleep Foundation joined forces with a multi-disciplinary panel consisting of experts in pediatrics, neurology, gerontology and gynecology as well as sleep, anatomy and physiology and issued new recommendations for sleep duration.

"This is the first time that any professional organization has developed age-specific recommended sleep durations based on a rigorous, systematic review of the world scientific literature relating sleep duration to health, performance and safety," says Charles A. Czeisler, PhD, MD, chairman of the board of the National Sleep Foundation, chief of sleep and circadian disorders at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Baldino Professor of Sleep Medicine at the Harvard Medical School.

Of notable interest was their addition of a new range, "may be appropriate," to acknowledge that sleep needs vary between individuals.

They also added two new age categories, one of "Younger Adults" defined as being between 18 and 25 years of age and that of "Older Adults," defined as being over 65 years of age.

They revised the previous recommendations for each of the six age groups for children and teenagers and the conclusions were published Monday in the journal Sleep Health: The Official Journal of the National Sleep Foundation.

Below is a summary:

Newborns (0-3 months): Need 14-17 hours of sleep (previously it was 12-18)

Infants (4-11 months): Need 12-15 hours of sleep (previously it was 14-15)

Toddlers (1-2 years): Need 11-14 hours of sleep (previously it was 12-14)

Preschoolers (3-5): Need 10-13 hours of sleep (previously it was 11-13)

School age children (6-13): Need 9-11 hours of sleep (previously it was 10-11)

Teenagers (14-17): Need 8-10 hours of sleep (previously it was 8.5-9.5)

Younger adults (18-25): Need 7-9 hours of sleep (new age category)

Adults (26-64): Recommended sleep duration did not change and remains 7-9 hours

Older adults (65+): Need 7-8 hours of sleep (new age category)