India second most sleep-deprived nation after Japan: Survey

India is the second most sleep-deprived country with an average night sleep of 7 hours and 1 minute, while Japan is the most sleep-deprived nation globally as an average Japanese gets only 6 hours and 47 minutes' sleep, according to a survey by activity trackers and wearables maker Fitbit, released on Wednesday.

Based on aggregated and anonymised user data analysis from 18 countries —India, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Spain, the UK and the US – Fitbit said Indians get 77 minutes of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which is the lowest in the world, similar to the Japanese.

The study was conducted between Aug.1, 2018 and July 31, 2019.

"REM sleep is crucial for emotion regulation, memory and peak protein synthesis, which ensures that multiple processes in the body work properly," the company said.

People in the 75-90 years age group get the least sleep (6 hours and 35 minutes) compared with other age groups, whereas those in the 18-25 years age group go to bed more than an hour later than those in the 75-90 years age group.

According to Fitbit, Indians are the least active and log in only 6,533 steps a day, which is 3,600 steps less than the average of the most active country — Hong Kong.

Indo-Asian News Service