Are We Sleeping Well? A Comparison of South Korean Sleep Habits with the World.

With the weather getting warmer and the days growing longer, South Koreans are experiencing significant changes in their sleep habits. Have you been thinking, "I feel tired for some reason..." a lot lately? If so, let's explore where you stand globally and how sleep habits vary across countries.

In summary, sleep is a crucial factor that greatly influences our health and daily life. While different cultures and environments result in various sleep habits, it is essential in any country to get adequate rest and maintain a healthy sleep pattern.

 

South Korean sleep habits have some unique characteristics compared to the rest of the world. According to a recent paper by researchers from the National University of Singapore and Finnish sleep tech startup OURA Health, people in Asian countries tend to sleep an average of less than 6.5 hours, about 30 minutes less than the United States and European countries.

 

This study analyzed anonymized data from over 220,000 individuals collected through wearable devices from January 2021 to January 2022 to arrive at these findings. It revealed that not only do Asians sleep less in terms of quantity, but the quality of their sleep also tends to be somewhat inferior compared to other countries.

 

Asians tend to go to bed later at night, spending more time tossing and turning. Moreover, Asians tend to compensate for inadequate weekday sleep by sleeping more on the weekends. Globally, it is common for people to sleep an extra 5 to 25 minutes on weekends, but Asians tend to sleep significantly longer on weekends than weekdays.

 

When looking at individual countries, New Zealand, Finland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Estonia, and Australia tied for the longest average sleep duration. In contrast, Japan had the shortest average sleep duration at 6.1 hours, with South Korea ranking 34th out of 35 countries with an average sleep duration of 6.3 hours, essentially in the bottom tier. The bottom 5 countries in terms of sleep duration included Hong Kong, Singapore, and India alongside South Korea.

 

The researchers analyzed that these variations in sleep habits are related to social factors. Factors such as parenting, work, religion, and cultural activities significantly impact sleep, with varying working hours by country playing a crucial role in shaping sleep patterns. For example, the Netherlands has a weekly work schedule of 27 hours, including weekends, while South Koreans work an average of 36.5 hours per week. As a result, it's not surprising that South Koreans sleep about 40 minutes less at night.

 

In summary, sleep is a crucial factor that greatly influences our health and daily life. While different cultures and environments result in various sleep habits, it is essential in any country to get adequate rest and maintain a healthy sleep pattern. South Koreans need to pay more attention to their sleep, and efforts to secure healthier sleep by adjusting working hours and daily routines are required. Through this, a more vibrant life can be achieved.