One in three Danes has admitted that they rarely take in the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep a night, with many averaging between just five and six.
A recent DR Nyheder survey, carried out by Epinion, revealed that just over a third (34 per cent) of the 1,030 respondents estimated they averaged between five and six hours sleep a night; two per cent put that figure as low as three to four hours per night.
Whether it be down to crying babies, stress from work, addiction to video games or fun between the sheets, experts warn that insufficient sleep can be extremely unhealthy.
University of Copenhagen Department of Public Health sleep researcher Alice Clark noted that sleeping did not only prepare us for the following day, it also helped restore bodily functions such as the cardiovascular system, metabolism and the immune system.
Some 56 per cent or respondents said they got the recommended seven to eight hours sleep a night, while at the two ends of the scale, seven per cent revealed they got in excess of eight hours sleep a night and 0.4 per cent put the figure at between just one and two hours.
A lack of sleep can often be related to stress, while illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart attacks are more prevalent among those who don’t sleep enough.