Seattle Sleeps
Surprisingly, Seattle is not sleepless. According to a new study from the Sleep Foundation, Seattle is the second best city for sleep in the entire United States. Sleep can be significantly impacted by where you live. Luckily, Seattle has an almost perfect balance of factors that contribute to good sleep health.
New Sleep Data
The Sleep Foundation gathered health metric data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Census from 2020. They then used that information to examine the link between a certain population’s sleep habits and their health indicators. The following are the top 5 factors they examined.
- Lack of health insurance – without access to healthcare, poor health and chronic conditions can greatly impact sleep
- Colon cancer screening – one indicator that people have access to preventive screenings for overall health maintenance
- Lack of leisure time for exercise – regular exercise benefits a person’s health and improves sleep
- Obesity – increases the risk of chronic conditions and insomnia
- Mental health – depression and sleep directly affect each other
Pros and Cons
Seattle enjoys a lot of benefits like a low rate of uninsured patients and low rates of obesity. Plus, most locals have more time for exercise and a better than average percentage of colon cancer screenings. All of these factors contribute to better sleep quality. However, Seattle residents have a relatively high rate of depression which can interfere with good quality sleep. But overall, 73.5% of Seattle residents get more than 7 hours of sleep each night.
Sleep Well in Seattle
Seattle’s lush green landscape greatly contributes to the excellent sleep quality of residents. Seattlites are able to enjoy lots of outdoor activities which keeps them healthy and helps them sleep better. Plus, compared to many other major cities in the United States, Seattle has much less light and air pollution. All of these factors directly contribute to a consistently better night’s sleep.
Check out the Sleep Foundation’s website here for more information.