Sleepless in West Virginia

Study Says West Virginians have Hardest Time Getting Good Night's Sleep; Hawaiians Most Well Rested

(AP)  Sleepless in Seattle? Hardly. West Virginia is where people are really staying awake, according to the first government study to monitor state-by-state differences in sleeplessness.

West Virginians' lack of sleep was about double the national rate, perhaps a side effect of health problems such as obesity, experts said.

Nearly 1 in 5 West Virginians said they did not get a single good night's sleep in the previous month. The national average was about 1 in 10, according to a federal health survey conducted last year and released Thursday.

Tennessee, Kentucky and Oklahoma also were notably above average in their reported lack of sleep. In contrast, North Dakota had fewer problems sleeping, with only 1 in 13 reporting that degree of sleeplessness.

Health officials do not know the exact reasons for the differences.

"We didn't ask 'Why didn't you get enough rest or sleep?"' said Lela McKnight-Eily, an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who led the study.

But experts noted several possible explanations: West Virginia ranks at or near the bottom of the nation in several important measurements of health, including obesity, smoking, heart disease and the proportion of adults with disabilities. Studies have increasingly found sleeping problems in people with certain health problems, including obesity.

"You would expect to see poorer sleep within a chronically diseased population," noted Darrel Drobnich of the National Sleep Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy and research organization.

Some experts believe sleep-deprived people are more inclined to eat fatty foods during the day.

"There's growing evidence sleep deprivation promotes obesity," said Dr. Ronald Chervin, a University of Michigan sleep disorders expert.

Financial stress and odd-hour work shifts can play roles in sleeplessness, too, Chervin added. He suggested those may be contributing factors in West Virginia, an economically depressed state with tens of thousands of people working in coal mining.

Thursday's report was based on results of an annual telephone survey of more than 400,000 Americans, including at least 3,900 in each state. The survey did not include people who use only cell phones.

The results mirrored earlier studies that found women are more likely to have sleeping problems than men, and blacks are more likely than white or Hispanics to get less sleep.

The survey did not ask people how many hours of sleep they got, and different respondents may have had different views of what counted for a good night's sleep. Sleep experts recommend seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

If you're wondering about Seattle - scene of the Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan film "Sleepless in Seattle" - the report did not provide information on cities. But the state of Washington had slightly fewer sleep-deprived people than the average state as reflected by the percent of residents reporting a solid month of sleeplessness.

New York and California - two states with large, stressed-out cities - were also a little better than average.

The survey also asked people the opposite question: Did you get enough sleep every single night for the last month? Hawaii racked up the most zzz's, with nearly 36 percent saying they were fully rested every day. The national average was about 31 percent.

In every state, most people reported a mix of nights when they got enough sleep and nights they did not.

[cidaia]

Working 2 jobs makes it hard to get enough sleep.

[proudmilvet]

One thing that will contribute to this is poor nutrition. I live in West VA. Lot's of people here are chronically obese. They practically live on McDonalds, Burger King, KFC & Biscuits & Gravy. Try going to sleep with all of that Crap on your Stomach!

[stayAU]

I can tell ya why they're not sleeping in TN, Kentucky, and Oklahoma. Because we're a bunch of half-breeds from the Cherokee and we're watching our country and countrymen being destroyed by a bunch of ignorant politicians. If you like sleeping in another country and you can afford to go their may I suggest you stay there permanently. Foreign people are coming to MY country and killing its residents and gang raping little girls. I am trying to say this as respectfully as I can America wasn't a Vacant Lot waiting for you greedy sociopathic bastards to rape for your materialist gain. Maybe if you don't have a conscience you can get a good nights rest. Tonight I will cry for that little girl in California and our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and hope that there is a special place in hell for the people who voted twice for Bush.

[displeased]

Well first of all, try getting rid of that giant alarm clock. Second, the picture is very deceptive. Women do NOT look like that in WV!

[mswolfestock]

West Virginians would say ANYTHING if they thought they could get on disability because of it. A lot of people spend their time dreaming up symptoms in the hope that they could collect disability payments instead of looking for a real job. There are other jobs in WV besides coal mining, too, but most of these losers and high school dropouts wouldn't qualify for them. So instead of getting training or education they spend their time trying to beat the system. They just want a paycheck and if it comes from working people's tax dollars they don't care. They don't understand that they'd sleep extremely well if they had gotten off of their backsides and done something constructive. Ask WORKING PEOPLE how they sleep and you'd probably get a different answer.

[pissedoffatignorantpeople]

Umm excuse me miss know it all, I am a student at a college in West Virginia. That means that I didn't drop out and I am going to work for a living. I graduated from a high school in WV with over 500 students in my graduating class. SURPRISE! only 2 people in my class dropped out. So obviously you don't know anything about the situation. My family has been in WV since the 1600s and I don't know anyone who is on welfare or disability checks. No one is my family is and i have one large family and know alot of people. There are alot of people in WV who don't sleep much. Like for instance me and my friends at college. We don't sleep much because we spend our time studying and going to class so we can make a living one day just like the rest of our families do. Or maybe my dad could be an example if that one isnt good enough for an ignorant person like you. My dad works over 100 hours a week at a manual labor type job to make a good living for our family, thats why he doesnt sleep. I bet you don't even know what a hard days work really is. I bet you've never even been to WV! There may be some people on welfare and diability in WV but it's not just here. It is stupid and ignorant to say that all of WV acts this way, or even most. Maybe you should get your facts straight before you go running your mouth about something you know nothing about! If you knew anything about WV you would know that it is very stupid to mess with us! So maybe you should think before you speak!

[cidaia]

I'm megalopolis born-and-raised, so I'm not used to seeing people who can't get benefits when they need 'em, but living in various rural areas over the past few years I have been astonished by the discrepancy between what urban poor vs. rural poor are "entitled" to.

Also by just how many people have to work 2 or more jobs just to get by. I have never seen ANYONE who can lay about with their hands out quite as much as I remember seeing when I did inner city volunteer work.

Urban poor complain that their mostly-nice apts are "slums" because there's an insect problem, and the city freaks out. Rural poor live in trailers, and that "proves" they're "trash".

[inketolstoy]

Some other possible reasons West Virginians don't sleep as well:

1. The sound of banjos dueling in the woods all night
2. The proximity of Washington D.C. (that might explain Hawaii's better rest)
3. Having Robert Byrd for a senator.

[mswolfestock]

Well then, how in the BLEEP did anybody sleep when Bushitt was in the White House?

[nordeck52]

West Virginia will never be as restful as in Virginia. They don't have ventilation up there, or even real windows.

Jokes aside, perhaps they should try to get other job options in there besides the coal mining, to give people less stressful lives.

[margaret-arthur-]

I recommend hypnosis for insomnia (& fibromyalgia & obesity), it is very effective for it. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia 10 years ago. There is a sleep disorder that goes along with fibromyalgia. Now 7 years later, I lost 80 lbs with hypnosis & not only do I sleep all through the night, but the fibromyalgia is 80% better than it was when I was 1st diagnosed.