#Sleeptember promoting healthy sleep across Norfolk & Suffolk!

Considering we spend at least a third of our lives sleeping, the bed that you're actually sleeping on can have a huge impact on your every day life!

Based on years of research, The Sleep Council recommend that you change your mattress at least every 7 years. Here's some key sleep facts to consider:

Majority of Britons (70%) now sleep for seven hours or less per night with more than a quarter (27%) experiencing poor quality sleep on a regular basis. And the number of Britons getting just five-to-six hours per night has risen dramatically in the past three years: more than a third of us get by on that amount of sleep compared to 27% in 2010. (The Sleep Council's Great British Bedtime Report, March 2013)

Getting a good night's sleep is just as important as diet and exercise when trying to lose weight. People who shifted their sleeping pattern from less than six hours to between seven and eight hours a night put on 2.4kg less weight over a six year period.(Eastern Ontario Research Institute and Laval University in Quebec, September 2012)

51% of adults struggle to nod off or remain sleep. Women suffer far more than men with 75% reporting problems compared with 25% of men (Professor Colin Espie, University of Glasgow and Sleepio study, November 2011)

A bed may have deteriorated by as much as 70% from its 'as new' state after 10 years. It also showed that beds as little as six years old could offer significantly less support and comfort than a new one, thanks to wear and tear not just from body weight and movement but also sweat and debris such as skin, scales, hair etc. (Research by the Furniture Industry Research Association, 2011)

One in six women acknowledged that their tiredness was caused by an uncomfortable bed. And seven out of 10 women would be prepared to pay £500 and considerably more to buy a new one.(Sleep Council 'Sleeping Beauty' survey, October 2011)

We need at least six hours of sleep a night to recharge your batteries and learn new things the next day scientists have claimed. Light, dreamless sleep which can take up half the night allows our brain to recharge our learning capacity. (Researchers at University of California, March 2011)

A recent French clinical study to compare sleep on a new bed versus an old bed showed that both young and old experience not necessarily more sleep but better quality – that is, less disturbed and more recuperative sleep – with three times fewer physical movements and two times fewer micro-awakenings being recorded. (Etude clinique initiée par l'Association pour la Promotion de la Literie, en collaboration avec le Professeur Damien Léger et l'European Sleep Center, 2010.)

Adding regular moderate exercise to a daily routine for 16 weeks showed middle-aged to older people could fall asleep about 15 minutes earlier and sleep roughly 45 minutes longer. (Stanford University, February 2011)

One in 10 people attribute poor sleep to a bad bed.(Sleep Council 'Grumpy Old Women' survey, 2006)

Instead of hitting the coffee take a 20 minute nap. A short kip can give you as much energy as two cups of strong coffee, but the effects are longer lasting. Twenty minutes is sufficient to turn off the nervous system and recharge the whole body - 30 minutes, however, is long enough to put you in a deep sleep and leave you feeling groggy when you wake. (Gregg Jacobs, Sleep Disorders Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School;Jersey Evening Post, March 2003).