Ladies, if you’ve ever felt like hitting snooze one more time while the men in your life seem ready to seize the day, science is on your side. You might not have taken note of it that much but we as women tend to require more sleep than men.
Studies show that women’s brains and bodies work differently, often requiring more sleep to recover fully. According to the Sleep Foundation, women are 40% more likely to have insomnia and are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and depression. It is stated that hormones also play a role in sleep needs, as they affect how a person feels tired, alert, and hungry.
The above foundation further explains that menstruation can cause sleep issues due to cramps, headaches, and bloating, leading to higher levels of daytime sleepiness and fatigue and that pregnancy can lead to restless legs syndrome, depression, sleep apnea, pain, incontinence, which disrupt sleep. This increases the reason why women should sleep more than men.
“Researchers have documented differences in the amount of time women and men dedicated to paid and unpaid labour, work and social responsibilities, and family caregiving. Women are more likely than men to wake up to take care of others in the home, a task which disrupts their sleep. Sleep disruptions can reduce overall sleep quality. Studies have also shown that women are more likely to nap during the day. Naps add to a person’s total sleep time, but they can also make nighttime sleep less restful.”
The Sleep Advisor publication mentions that women are generally busier than men, leading to increased stress, exhaustion, and burnout due to unequal work demands, wages, and unpaid work. Despite improvements in gender roles, it is claimed that women still face the majority of unpaid and emotional labour as female bodies store more fat than male bodies, making weight loss harder.
Therefore, the above source believes that sleep is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight, as it allows the body to produce appetite-controlling hormones and reduces calorie intake. “Poor sleep disproportionately affects a female’s heart health and insulin levels17, which means that if a man and woman both get the same low-quality sleep, the woman would be more likely to develop heart disease, as well as type 2 diabetes.”
