Alternative Health Blog

Some sleep statistics that here’s hoping you don’t turn over in your mind at 3 a.m.: 

A recent article in the Journal of Labor Economics lays out how American sleep schedule are, frankly, more televisionistic than circadian. It all started with people staying up late to watch Johnny Carson monologues (even one of the study researchers from the University of Chicago admits to this habit himself in earlier life) and now carries on with the likes of Letterman and Leno, er, Conan.

In fact, with the rise of cable and satellite TV, plus the late, late talk shows following the late talk shows, a good chunk of Americans are zooming way past midnight to catch a favorite program.

Here’s what the University of Chicago researchers surmised about sleep habits related to TV and early morning work schedules:

-- People in the "professional service" sector (finance, information, business services) are more likely to be on time zone or circadian schedule, getting to sleep earlier to be ready for early work hours, while individuals in other services sector (education, health, leisure and hospitality) are typically more responsive to television cues.

-- The probability that you are watching TV between 11 to 11:15 p.m. decreases with age, but the probability that you arrive at work between 8 to 8:15 a.m. increases until retirement age.

-- Whether you are married with/without kids doesn’t affect TV viewing statistics at 11 p.m., but married couples are less likely to be sleeping at 7 a.m. and more likely to be at work at 8 a.m.

-- Individuals in early television zones (Central and Mountain) are 6.4 percentage points less likely to be watching television between 11 and 11:15 p.m. than those in later zones. But if the sunset is pushed back by an hour due to daylight savings time, the probability of watching TV at 11 p.m. only increases by one percent.

Here are a few gentle suggestions about TV and your health. Mix and match these ideas as you like:

1.    Turn off the TV during the week altogether.

2.    If the Letterman or Leno monologue is a must, figure out the technology to tape it, then watch it the next night. You will find it really doesn’t lose much news value. Well, OK, I am speculating on the last part, but I challenge you to prove otherwise.

3.    Pick one night a week to watch Letterman/Leno live—or a late ballgame or whatever—then plan to sleep in accordingly. Keep the TV splurges to a minimum.

4.    Try to awaken the same time every morning, even on weekends. Sleep researchers agree that is a top strategy for solving your sleep troubles. You simply will want to go to bed earlier most nights, Leno and all.

5.    Whatever you do as a TV watcher, skip it as a morning companion.