The National Sleep Foundation s (NSF) has proposed new sleep time recommendations for people of all ages, based on expert research. 7 to 8 hours for the elderly. People spend a third of their lives sleeping. With work hours, you can’t help but long for the weekends when you can lounge under the covers, and sleep is as crucial to survival as food, water and air. The length of sleep each day has become an important indicator of overall health. Many people don’t seem to get enough sleep under the covers. A new study conducted by experts from the National Sleep Foundation found that, contrary to previous belief, people need more sleep, whether they are 4-month-old babies or 17-year-olds. A new study done by experts at the National Sleep Foundation gives the amount of sleep people need at each age. Newborns need anywhere from 14 to 17 hours of sleep; adults over 65 years old need 7 to 8 hours of sleep. Previous studies have confirmed that lack of sleep can make people fat, increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and shorten life expectancy. To determine exactly how much sleep people need at each stage of life, the National Sleep Foundation established a team of 18 specialists in sleep, anatomy and physiology, neurology, pediatrics, geriatrics and gynecology. The scientists spent two years developing the most current sleep guidelines available. Their findings also reveal that people from 4-month-old babies to 17-year-olds need more sleep than previously thought. Their report states, “Importantly, the panel highlighted that individuals who sleep longer or shorter than recommended do not trigger negative effects. However, individuals who sleep well outside the normal range may be subject to mandatory sleep interventions or indicate serious health problems in them.” Experts at the National Sleep Foundation found that, contrary to previous beliefs, people need more sleep, whether they are 4-month-old babies or 17-year-olds. Previous studies have confirmed that lack of sleep makes people fat, increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, and shortens life expectancy. For the first time, a professional organization has so rigorously and systematically followed the world’s medical literature on healthy sleep duration, sleep performance and sleep safety to develop sleep schedules for all ages,” said Chesler, chairman of the National Sleep Foundation’s board of directors and chief of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. The National Science Foundation provides scientific and practical guidelines for how much sleep people need each night to help them improve their sleep health. It is incumbent upon the National Sleep Foundation to promote sleep health, and we have an obligation to ensure that our proposals are based on the most rigorous science available. Our views are important to many people, especially parents with children.” The 2014 China Sleep Index report shows that urban populations have two extremes of sleep problems – unable to sleep and unable to shed sleep, with high work pressure causing nearly 70% of the workforce to suffer from insomnia to varying degrees, and the popularity of smartphones making it impossible for young people to shed sleep, with chronic diseases caused by sleep problems rising year by year.