New campaign shows Kiwis’ broken sleep impacts wellbeing

AUCKLAND, Today: Nearly half of Kiwis are struggling with sleep, getting just one to three decent nights a week. This lack of shut-eye is messing with their work, love life, and energy, highlights new data from ResMed.

The Global Sleep Survey by ResMed, hitting its fourth year, has checked in with over 36,000 folks worldwide, including 1000 from New Zealand. It’s all about getting the lowdown on global sleep trends for World Sleep Day.

For the first time, New Zealanders have thrown their hats in the ring for this year’s survey. It’s all part of ResMed’s fresh campaign, Discover Your Sleep Superpowers.

A whopping 56% of Kiwis aren’t sleeping right, with nearly a quarter feeling this way forever. “This sort of disrupted sleep has wide-ranging impacts on peoples’ work lives, their family life, and personal health and well-being,” notes Terri Candy from EdenSleep by ResMed.

Terri lays it out: bad sleep equals bad news at work and home. We’re talking accidents, foggy driving, and iffy decisions. “People are feeling flat, exhausted, and unmotivated because of a lack of quality sleep which makes working to their best near impossible,” she adds.

“Sleep affects our metabolism, our mood, and our energy levels. So good quality sleep helps incredibly in terms of our health.”

When Kiwis do catch some Zs, the perks include better focus, more patience, and energy to hit the gym. “Something like patience is a big one because no one wants to be a grumpy mum or dad with their kids or their partner, but if you’re not sleeping well during the week then it will have an effect,” Terri explains.

Curiosity about sleep is on the rise, with Kiwis using tech to track their nighttime patterns. Terri advises, “Sleep affects our metabolism, our mood, and our energy levels. So good quality sleep helps incredibly in terms of our health.”

What’s keeping New Zealanders up? Anxiety, money woes, and nighttime nature calls top the list, along with family stress and a dwindling sex drive due to poor sleep.

Carlos M. Nunez from ResMed emphasises sleep’s vital role in our health, “With over 936 million people around the world affected by sleep apnea[1], it is concerning to learn that, of the 36,000 people we surveyed, 4-in-10 get less than three good nights of sleep a week.

“This World Sleep Day we want to empower people to take charge of their sleep health, understand the symptoms of sleep apnea, and have conversations with their healthcare provider as poor sleep can be an indicator of conditions such as sleep apnea.”

• Click here for a free online sleep assessment