Gallup did not ask this question in the 1942 poll. The percentage who say they get sufficient sleep has been in the mid-50% range since 2001, but was much higher in 1990. Regardless of what the experts recommend and the number of hours of sleep people actually get, 56% of Americans say they get as much sleep as needed, while 43% say they would feel better if they got more sleep.

That means four in 10 Americans get less than the recommended amount of nightly sleep, compared with the 11% who did so 70 years ago. adults meet that standard, but in 1942, 84% did. Therefore, experts typically recommend seven to nine hours sleep for adults. Medical studies have related a lack of sleep to health problems and cognitive impairment.

Americans currently average 6.8 hours of sleep at night, down more than an hour from 1942. Those figures are largely unchanged from Gallup polls in the 1990s and 2000s, but Americans, on average, slept much more in the 1940s. PRINCETON, NJ - Fifty-nine percent of Americans get seven or more hours of sleep at night, while 40% get less than seven hours.

We who are young 1940