Behind The Mic With Joe Mathieu: Why We Don't Get Enough Sleep?

BOSTON (CBS) - We've all heard the studies that tell us we don't get enough sleep. And how that's making us fat and taking years off our lives.

God only knows how I'm still alive.

And today we woke-up to a first-ever study into sleep habits around the world.

It's from the National Sleep Foundation and it finds that we average six-and-a-half hours of sleep per night. Almost a quarter of us get less than that.

And our lack of sleep at night also means we nap more than people in other countries. About half of us have taken one in the past two weeks.

But the foundation asked a lot of other questions about our bedtime habits and some of the answers may explain why we get so little rest at night.

Let's start with watching TV.

Experts tell us it's one of the worst things you can do right before sleep. And this study finds at least two-thirds of us watch the tube in the hour before bedtime. I'm usually winding down just as Jeopardy is ending so I can at least pretend it makes me smarter.

A lack of exercise is another big reason why people do not sleep well.

Researchers also looked at the way we keep our bedrooms and found that our sleep also depends on the way the room smells. To that end, a majority of people take steps to make sure the room smells the way they want.

It may sound silly but sleep is serious business. Doctors say our health is directly related to it. And because we spend about a third of our lives in bed - it's worth getting right.

Follow Joe on Twitter @joemathieuwbz