Exhausted Americans Challenged To Sleep

Just one more hour of sleep each day can help extend your life by reducing mortality causing illnesses including obesity, Type 2 diabetes, respiratory disorders and high blood pressure, according to new research(i). So, instead of packing more activities into your day, the sleep experts at Select Comfort, the nation's leading bed retailer and maker of the Sleep Number bed, challenge Americans to adopt better sleep habits by signing a pledge on www.beds.com to sleep one more hour each day beginning June 20, the first day of summer and the "longest" day of the year. All those who pledge are entered to win a free Sleep Number bed and sent valuable sleep and lifestyle tips to help them achieve deeper, restorative sleep to improve physical and mental health and performance, which might extend their life and increase their bedtime comfort.

"The Sleep-in Challenge is meant to help people start thinking about a better sleep routine. Just as people pay more attention to their diet and exercise, yard work and social lives during the summer, sleep is an often overlooked necessity with significant long-term health effects on a person's life," said Select Comfort Sleep Expert, Pete Bils.

Other experts agree. The National Sleep Foundation reports almost half the U.S. population is not getting enough sleep. For people regularly getting fewer than seven hours of sleep, gaining just one more hour per day of sleep can show significant results.

Potential consequences for people who sleep fewer than seven hours per night (short-sleepers):

-- Children and adults have a 60 to 80 percent increase in obesity

-- Mid-life adults are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease

-- Mortality rates increase in men and women

-- People suffer a cognitive deficit, impairing their motor functions, affecting their reaction time and work productivity

Additional benefits of seven to eight hours of sleep per night:

-- One more hour of sleep could lower the average adult body weight by 2.2 to 6.6 pounds

-- Primary beauty benefits are a more youthful look, finer quality skin and smoother complexion, according to Shalini Vadhera, internationally recognized celebrity makeup artist, and Sleep Number Quality of Life Advisory Board member

-- Comfort levels are increased, which results in decreased feelings of pain