“That number increases when we talk about springing forward,” he said.
Birt noted unlike the fall, people will be losing an hour of sleep this weekend and it takes about a week for the body to adjust.
The National Institutes of Health says that school-aged children need at least nine hours of sleep a day, and teens need eight to 10 hours of sleep. The NIH recommends that adults get at least seven to eight hours of sleep.
Birt said spring forward is a good time for families to discuss sleep schedules.
“Adults are the role models for young people. We have this culture where we are in a hustle environment, we applaud those in our world who stay up late and send that email at midnight or 1 o’clock and we need to stop that,” Birt said. “We need to understand to create a culture at work or in our home life where we set boundaries, that values and appreciate sleep and not view it as selfish.
“We sometimes view sleep as a selfish act when really it’s the best thing you can do to take care of yourself and your overall health,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention reported that one in five children experiences a mental health issue, and Birt said sleep can help children and adults combat that.
“We need to start thinking about sleep as not the thing we sacrifice,” he said. “We need to build our schedule around sleep instead of building our sleep around our schedules.”
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