French people, take care of your sleep, asks the Ministry of Health

Naps, and above all, good nights: the French need to restore their sleep capacity, the decline of which is alarming doctors and public authorities.

“ Studies have shown that the sleep of the French has decreased by 1.5 hours in 50 years and that almost 50% of French people complain of having poor quality sleep.", explained Health Minister Yannick Neuder on July 22, presenting a new " inter-ministerial roadmap for quality sleep" . " And we know that poor quality sleep has impacts on health, whether in mental health – more stress, depression, etc. – or in organic health, with more obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease." he said.

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The roadmap plans to strengthen awareness-raising efforts for good sleep in public communication, particularly via the website mangerbouger.fr, or the mental health application Jardin Mental, developed by the Ministry of Health. It also plans to increase awareness among professionals working with children and the world of work, and to improve the identification of sleep disorders in the population by better training and equipping professionals.

Napping is one of the objectives, with the development of the “Quiet” label, which allows places (schools, libraries, businesses, shops, restaurants, etc.) to be marked “ promoting well-being, relaxation, even napping", and a new text to come on the framework for the organization of naps in nursery school.

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For the world of work, " there will be no actual recommendation from the Ministry of Health to employers", said Yannick Neuder, who declared himself generally " very favorable » at post-prandial rest. « But we can say that as far as possible", it is desirable" to set up, as many companies already do spontaneously, break areas, quiet spaces which allow employees to take micro-naps" he said.

“ It is not a question of imposing measures that would be unfeasible in certain companies, but I believe that in the context of CSR (corporate social responsibility), well-being at work, many companies have already thought about these questions and are proposing them." he added.

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Essential nighttime sleep

Napping is not a panacea anyway: it helps combat drowsiness or restore attention or concentration skills, but not to recover from a lack of nighttime sleep, the specialists explain. In mental health or cardiovascular health, it has been shown that napping on weekends, when we are too sleep deprived, is a 'lesser evil', which allows us to regenerate our bodies and be in better health.", according to Pierre-Alexis Geoffroy, psychiatrist and sleep specialist.

Generally speaking, for all the sleep specialists gathered at the Ministry on Tuesday, it is nighttime sleep that is essential for human beings, with requirements in terms of duration, quality, and regularity – because sleeping in does not allow for recovery from a nighttime sleep deficit.

For teenagers, who are estimated to sleep 50% " much less » than the recommended 9 hours, « It has been shown that a two-week period of insomnia in the year represents a risk multiplied by 3 of developing a psychiatric disorder in the following year", said Professor Carmen Schröder, a child psychiatrist specializing in sleep.

“ Sleep Debt » linked to sleep apnea « is a major factor in the obesity epidemic", said Professor Renaud Tamisier, director of the sleep exploration center at Grenoble Alpes University Hospital. The combination " going to bed too late or early, associated with sleep discontinuity or insufficient sleep duration will be major determinants of cardiovascular health", stressed Dr. Sébastien Baillieul, sleep specialist at Grenoble University Hospital.