Find out – How much sleep do you really need?

New Delhi: Sleep is so important for our physical and mental health. Sleep is also a vital indicator of overall health and well-being.

But unfortunately, millions of people fail to get adequate rest each night and suffer from lack of sleep. What makes the matter worse is that most of those with these problems go undiagnosed or untreated, which may impair their health, safety, productivity, mood, and more.

While we all should get adequate rest every night, the average amount of sleep needed changes over our lifetime, especially during childhood and adolescence.

Experts recommend the following sleep times for different groups of people:

• Newborns (0-3 months) need 14-17 hours each day
• Infants (4-11 months) need 14-15 hours
• Toddlers (12-35 months) need 12-14 hours
• Preschoolers (3-6 years) need 11-13 hours
• School age children (6-10) need 10-11 hours
• Adolescents (11-18 years) need 9.25 hours
• Adults need an average of 8 hours

However, elderly adults (65+) may need less sleep

Because lack of sleep can lead to a number of health problems, it's extremely important that your body gets the sleep it needs each night. Regular poor sleep also puts you at risk of serious medical conditions, including obesity, heart disease and diabetes - and it shortens your life expectancy as well.