1st November 2006

GRUMPY OLD WOMEN Survey by THE SLEEP COUNCIL

It’s official! Women are grumpier than men in the morning.

 They are not only grumpier more often than men but they are grumpier for longer.

According to a new Sleep Council survey, 24% of men say they never wake up in a bad mood as opposed to only 14% of women. The fairer sex is also more likely to stay grumpier for longer with 13% of them staying in a bad mood for two to four hours (men 10%).

The survey, published ahead of National Sleep In Day on October 29 – the day the clocks go back and we all get an extra hour in bed – found 41% of us believe lack of sleep is the main reason for grumpiness in the morning.

“As men appear to sleep better than women (15% get a good seven nights’ sleep a week as opposed to only 9% of women), perhaps it’s not surprising that more women than men get out of bed on the wrong side,” says Jessica Alexander of The Sleep Council.

Overall nearly one in five of the population (18%) say they never really get a good night’s sleep: and techniques for doing so show a male/female split too. A worrying one in five men use a stiff drink (18%) and/ or sex (19%) to get off to sleep while women are more likely to read (57%), take a hot bath (28%) or have a sleeping pill (7%).

 A quarter (24%) of those questioned cited general stress and worry as a reason for early morning moodiness while 15% couldn’t face climbing out of a cosy, comfortable bed.

“The comfort of a bed was quite a significant factor in these results,” says Jessica Alexander. “Because while many people find it hard to tear themselves out of a comfortable bed in the morning, another 10% of participants cited a bad bed as a reason for poor sleep. Clearly these people either need to replace their bed more often or pay more for something in which they spend a third of their lives.”

The over 45 age-group fares worst of all in the sleep starvation stakes with a massive 44% saying they never get a good night’s sleep. Could this be connected to the fact they are the most likely people to have teenagers? And teenagers are the moodiest of all with 25% staying so for up to four hours.

There are clear regional differences too with London home to Great Britain’s Grumpiest: a whopping 19% maintain a bad mood for two to four hours while  Northern Ireland leads the way in sheer numbers. More than a third (35%) of respondents here feel crabby for the first hour or so after waking.

Worst areas for bad sleepers are Yorkshire and the North East where only 6.8% and 6.7% get seven nights of good sleep. In the South East and East, people get twice as much good sleep with 14% enjoying seven sound nights’ sleep.

“In London, 27% believe that when they wake up in a bad mood, stress is the most likely cause,” says Jessica. “This is interesting because Londoners, along with the rest of the South East, generally tend to be better sleepers. The fact that 18% of people in the North East never feel at their best compared to 7% in London represents a huge regional difference. We suspect the south’s better sleep patterns may be linked to greater wealth, better diet, more exercise – perhaps even higher spending on beds.”

Londoners also exercise most in the morning to get their day off to a good start while North Westerners are the swiftest at getting ready for work – more than a third (35%) do so in just 10 – 20 minutes. In Scotland they check their emails more than anywhere else and in the South West they ensure the house is spick and span before they leave.

“Which brings us right back round to why women are the grumpier sex in the morning,” says Jessica. “Our survey showed that 28% of them as opposed to only 5% of men do any housekeeping before going to work. It also tends to be them that prepares the breakfast, spends time with the children, check their emails and attend to their beauty regime. Women far outweigh men in having a busy and packed morning.”

So what do men do? Apparently just get up and go out: 17% of them spend only 10 minutes on their wake up and get out routine.

Said Jessica: “As a nation we are simply not taking time in the morning to exercise, chat to the kids, our partners or even our pets. This would suggest that people don’t have the time in the morning to do this because they are probably going to bed too late at night, sleeping in too late and not achieving the quality of sleep they need to feel and perform at their best.

“One in 10 people told us they are never at their best in the morning but the cure to that isn’t rocket science. It’s about good diet, good exercise, and good sleep in a good bed.”

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