Survey says: Baseball fans are losing sleep

Batter-up, baseball fans! The sport’s greatest event returns today, as the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers compete for the World Series title, promising home runs, strikeouts…and sleep loss? That’s right. More than one-fifth (22%) of Americans report they are more tired than usual during the Series, according to an American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) survey. With all the games starting after 8 p.m. EDT, and most taking place on weeknights, many baseball fans in the Eastern and Central time zones will be staying up later than usual to watch the excitement on the field.

“It is essential to prioritize sleep — even if there is a great baseball game on — because maintaining the proper amount of consistent, healthy sleep positively impacts our health, well-being and performance during our waking hours,” said Dr. Kannan Ramar, president of the AASM.

The AASM suggests the following tips to “hit a home run” with sleep during the World Series:

• Avoid food and drinks during the later innings. Eating heavy meals or sugary foods and consuming caffeine, alcohol, or nicotine too close to bedtime can negatively affect your sleep. If you’re hungry late at night, eat a light, healthy snack.

• Wind down after the game. Skip the temptation to watch postgame commentary and avoid social media until morning. Try to follow your typical bedtime routine to relax and get ready for bed.

• Make sleep a priority. While individual sleep needs vary, the AASM recommends that adults should sleep seven or more hours per night on a regular basis to promote optimal health. If the big game is keeping you up long past your bedtime, consider turning it off and catching up on the highlights in the morning. If you don’t get enough sleep after watching the game, you may need a power nap the following day. A brief nap of 20 to 30 minutes in the early afternoon can boost your alertness and productivity.

For more information about the importance of healthy sleep, visit www.sleepeducation.org.

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About the Survey

The September 2019 AASM Sleep Prioritization Survey involved 2,003 adult participants in the U.S. The margin of error is +/- 2 percentage points with a confidence interval of 95 percent. Atomik Research, an independent market research agency, conducted the survey.

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine

Established in 1975, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) is advancing sleep care and enhancing sleep health to improve lives. The AASM has a combined membership of 11,000 accredited member sleep centers and individual members, including physicians, scientists and other health care professionals (aasm.org).