The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified insufficient sleep as a public health epidemic in the United States. CDC data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System shows that 35% of American adults β approximately 84 million people β regularly sleep less than the recommended 7 hours per night, making the US one of the most sleep-deprived high-income nations in the world.
The health consequences cascade through virtually every body system. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of obesity by 45%, type 2 diabetes by 50%, cardiovascular disease by 48%, and depression by 60%. Immune function is impaired, making sleep-deprived individuals significantly more susceptible to infections. And cognitive performance declines are measurable and substantial β a person who has slept 6 hours for two weeks performs as poorly on cognitive tests as someone who has been awake for 24 consecutive hours.
The economic impact is enormous. A RAND Corporation analysis estimated that sleep deprivation costs the US economy $411 billion annually in lost productivity, absenteeism, and healthcare costs β roughly 2% of GDP. The US loses more than any other high-income nation to this preventable condition.
The causes are structural: American work culture that celebrates busyness, artificial light that disrupts circadian rhythms, electronic devices in bedrooms, stress, and for a significant minority, undiagnosed sleep disorders like sleep apnea that affect an estimated 30 million Americans.
