A nap after lunch? It is often difficult to resist it, especially when you are not active. A large study conducted by the ‘American Academy of Sleep Medicinepresented during the Sleep annual professional meeting held in early June in Seattle in the United States, studied very closely the nap habits of nearly 90,000 people (women for 57 % of them) whose average age was 63 ans. The cohort was followed by activigraphy, a test used in the event of sleep disorders and which precisely analyzes the Awakening periods and sleep over 24 hours, knowing that the study only became interested in naps between 9 hours et 19 hours.
And the least we can say is that the results of this study are surprising. Certain nap habits, very anchored among those over 50have a direct impact on health and even on mortality. However, seniors are precisely larger nap consumers, especially because there are more many of them suffering from sleep disturbancesto be medicated, to suffer from diurnal sleeping Or to be in lack of physical activity.
When do we make the most naps?
First important point to remember from this study: people who agree with a small day in the day are very numerous in Over 50 years !
“By analyzing the results of the sleep study, we were surprised by the nap frequency In adults of average age to be advanced, by the variability of their diurnal sleep habits and by the time of the day they were sleeping”Said Chenlu Gao, principal author and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital de Boston.
Second important point, the moment of the favorite day to take a nap is not necessarily at the beginning of the afternoon, as we could have expected. The results indeed reveal that:
- 34 % naps were made between 9 h and 11 h,
- 10 % between 11 h and 13 h,
- 14 % between 13 h and 15 h;
- 19 % Between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.,
- 22 % Between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Post-lunch nap: a wound for health!
Correlated with Mortality data recovered over a period of 11 years and adjusted “To take into account potential confusion factors, in particular demographic data, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption and the duration of night sleep”, These new data provides more specifically on Types of nap associated with an increased risk of mortality. Researchers have established that “THE longer naps, greater variability in the duration of dayties and higher percentages of naps to noon and early afternoon are associated with higher risk of mortality.”
Other studies had already highlighted the deleterious effects on the health of Too long naps. Chinese work* had thus brought to light that “Longer nap period (greater than 30 minutes a day, editor’s note) is associated with an increased risk of metabolic syndrome in an older Chinese population.”
In the same vein, while short naps (less than 30 minutes) seem to prevent decline and cognitive disorders, a very long nap (greater than 120 minutes) produced the opposite effect, as confirmed by another American study of 2019 **.
On the other hand, we had so far only little data around the effects of the nap according to its time during the day.
So should we ban the nap? No, all specialists agree. Because the nap, well conducted, can also have a positive impact on health, and in particular reducing cognitive decline.
Nap: the advice of specialists
No more than 20 to 30 minutesmaximum. If it is necessary to remember a determining element of all the studies published on the question, that is this one! This is all the more important since we are moving in age.
Of the additional studies will undoubtedly confirm or invalidate if the early afternoon is indeed the worst time of the day to take a nap.
“It is interesting to note that the data that shows the associated risks In naps around noon and early in the afternoon contradict what we are currently knowing on naps. Additional research on this link could therefore be justified ”added the main study of the study.
In the meantime, which counts as much as the duration or schedule of the nap is Hygiene of life (a varied and balanced diet coupled with regular physical activity) and Nocturnal sleep quality.
