Here’s another simple thing you can do to be healthier: get the sleep you need. Tell that to your mother the next time she complains you are sleeping too much.

There’s a lot of research confirming the dangers of being sleep deprived. People not getting enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, depressed, and have diabetes. Children with disturbed sleep have attention-deficit disorder-like symptoms and more behavior problems. You are more likely to catch colds, and more likely to have accidents when you haven’t slept enough – a number of airplane accidents have been connected to sleep-deprived pilots.

Even staying up late studying before your exam might not be a good idea. One of my friends went out shopping the whole day and studied the entire night before a test- only to realize the next morning she had studied the previous year’s syllabus. Even if you don’t do anything so egregious, you will have more trouble concentrating and lower reading comprehension and more risk of blanking out than if you had slept well.

In case you want to take this too far – it’s not good to sleep too much either. This has been linked to depression too, and to a shorter life span.

But an adult should get at least 6 hours of sleep a night.

Not getting enough sleep? Take this online test to diagnose sleep disorders

Epworth sleepiness scale

Read about sleep problems here:

1. Sleep disorders

2. Sleep disorders in elderly people

3. People with sleep apnea should not drive after poor sleep

4. Sleepwalking