Importance of sleep to health ‘must be underlined’

More must be done to educate young adults on the importance of proper amounts of sleep in maintaining physical and mental health, according to the Sleep Council.

Jessica Alexander, a spokeswoman for the body, issued the warning in response to new research from the George Institute for Global Health which established a link between a lack of sleep and mental health problems.

According to data published in the journal Sleep, otherwise healthy young adults sleeping less than five hours nightly are three times more susceptible to mental ill health than those sleeping for eight or nine hours.

It follows research from Sleep released last month which showed that a lack of sleep is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular illness.

Ms Alexander stated that these issues are likely to become increasingly prominent due to the access younger people have to technology and the internet in their bedrooms, which is discouraging proper rest.

"It's going to get worse before it gets better and we have to renew our efforts to remind people how important it is not to let sleep suffer," she added.