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Health Institute

Withings Health Observatory

Thanks to the power of connected devices, Withings is able to provide a national health observatory accessible to the general public. Using real-time data, this tool allows us to track the prevalence of key risk factors linked to lifestyle: sedentary behavior, overweight and obesity, and high blood pressure.

The observatory invites you to discover exclusive data and information gathered from the Withings community. Which countries in the UK are most affected by sedentary behaviors or by overweight and obesity? Are all age groups affected? Check out the informative graphs and charts of the Withings health observatory to learn more about health behaviors and different lifestyles across the UK.

The observatory of sleep

Sleeping well is essential for our health and well-being. However, sleep duration shortening is a behavior that is becoming more and more widespread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the U.S. estimate that 35% of adults do not get enough sleep. Yet, repeated lack of sleep might have harmful effects on health: hypertension, obesity, decreased attention (increasing the probability of accidents at work or on the road), and depression, to mention only a few of them.

In this context, it is necessary to increase general awareness about this subject. To contribute to this objective, Withings has introduced a tool that monitors sleep levels in the UK in real time.

What is the role of sleep?

Sleep is something that you spend one third of your life doing. It is a vital bodily function, like breathing or digestion. It plays an important role in learning, memorization and adaptability. It is also essential to your overall well-being.

How many hours of sleep are necessary to be in good health?

We are all very different when it comes to sleep. Most people need 8 hours of sleep. But some people are "short sleepers" who only need 7 hours of sleep. On the other hand, some people are "long sleepers" who need at least 9 hours of sleep a night.

Additionally, sleep needs vary with age. The National Sleep Foundation recommends for example from 9 to 11 hours of sleep for children aged 6 to 13 years old, and from 7 to 9 hours of sleep for adults aged 18 to 64 years old. In our dashboards, we follow this classification. Therefore, adults repeatedly sleeping less than 7 hours per night are considered to be sleep deprived .For more details about the definitions we use, please visit our section on data protection policies and definitions used.

Scroll down to discover the statistics on
sleep

How do sleep deprivation rates differ across UK*?

Review the latest Withings figures for sleep to gauge the regional differences. Select one region to view its profile details.

The latest data from the Withings community shows that, for the selected category, Northern Ireland is the region where people sleep the most. On the contrary, England is the region with the highest rate of sleep deprivation. Follow the evolution of these tendencies by regularly visiting the observatory.

* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 20000+ adult Withings users in the UK. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.
Data updated monthly, on a 12-month moving window. Last update:01/07/2020.

Prevalence of sleep deprivation

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%
of sleep deprived users

Back to UK map


Breakdown by sleep duration classes,
in percentage of subjects

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Prevalence of sleep deprivation
by age class

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Sleep duration distribution, in percentage of subjects

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Overview of sleep levels in the UK*

Learn more about sleep statistics in the UK. This section explains average sleep duration as well as prevailing national trends and sleep deprivation rates for different age categories.


Breakdown by sleep duration classes,
in percentage of subjects

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Prevalence of sleep deprivation
by age class

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Sleep duration distribution, in percentage of subjects

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For the selected category, the latest figures from the Withings community show an average sleep duration of 7.5 hours, and a sleep deprivation rate of 46% in the UK. Among the population over 20 years old, it is the 50-69 year olds that display the highest sleep deprivation rate, with 20%. Follow the real-time evolution of these indicators by regularly visiting the observatory.

* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 20000+ adult Withings users in the UK. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.
Data updated monthly, on a 12-month moving window. Last update:01/07/2020.

Sleep trends in the UK*

What is the evolution of sleep deprivation rates in the UK*? Compare the variations of these rates since 2013 for men and women, and for different age groups.

For the selected category, we observe between 2014 and2022 an absolute variation of 2% of the sleep deprivation rate in the UK.


Prevalence of sleep deprivation by year

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* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 20000+ adult Withings users in the UK. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.

What is the relation between sleep and other vital indicators?
The body mass index.

Find out how sleep and body mass index are correlated.

The class Less than 7 hours is the one with the highest rate of adults affected by overweight or obesity, 65.5%.

Percentage of overweight or obese adults, by sleep duration class

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* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 100000+ Withings users. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.
Global data, updated monthly. Last update:07/01/2020.

What is the relation between sleep and other vital indicators?
The blood pressure level.

Find out how sleep and blood pressure levels are correlated.

The class Less than 7 hours is the one with the highest rate of individuals showing high blood pressure levels, 24.4%.

Percentage of subjects with high blood pressure, by sleep duration class

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* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 100000+ Withings users. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.
Global data, updated monthly. Last update:07/01/2020.

What is the relation between sleep and other vital indicators?
The physical activity level.

Find out how sleep and physical activity levels are correlated.

The class Less than 7 hours is the one with the highest rate of individuals showing a sedentary behavior, 24.4%.

Percentage of subjects displaying a sedentary behavior, by sleep duration class

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* Anonymized and aggregated data, built on the basis of a random sample of 100000+ Withings users. See below for our data protection policies and definitions used.
Global data, updated monthly. Last update:07/01/2020.

Did you know?

  • Sleep deprivation is associated with weight gain: a study shows that people lacking sleep are 35% more likely to experience a 5-kg weight gain, as compared with average-duration sleepers over 6 years1


  • Physical activity improves sleep: 150 minutes of exercise per week are enough to improve significantly the quality of sleep2


  • Lack of sleep is bad for the cardiovascular health: it is associated with a risk 1.45 higher of developing a coronary heart disease3, and 2.1 higher of developing an hypertension4


  • Sleep impacts greatly your mood: researchers found out that people subject to less than 5 hours of sleep during a week would declare to feel more stressed, angry and sad. Their mood would improve after 2 nights of normal sleep5


  • Experiencing difficulty to fall asleep is often the 1st sign of a depression. Studies estimate that people suffering from chronic insomnia are 5x more likely to develop a depression, and 20x more likely to develop an anxiety disorder6


  • The truth about beauty sleep: a study reveals that the physical appearance after a night of good sleep, compared to after a short-sleep night, is considered more attractive by others7


  • Sleep apnea is a disorder that goes often undiagnosed, characterized by repeated interruptions in breathing during sleep. It manifests more frequently by loud, chronic snoring8

1. Chaput JP et al. The association between sleep duration and weight gain in adults. Sleep, 31(4):517-23, 2008.
2. Loprinzi P, Cardinal B. Association between objectively-measured physical activity and sleep, NHANES 2005–2006. Mental Health and Physical Activity, 4(2):65-69, 2011.
3. Ayas N et al. A Prospective Study of Sleep Duration and Coronary Heart Disease in Women. Arch Intern Med, 163(2):205-209, 2003.
4. Gangwisch J et al. Short Sleep Duration as a Risk Factor for Hypertension. Hypertension, 47:833-839, 2006.
5. Dinges DF et al. Cumulative sleepiness, mood disturbance, and psychomotor vigilance performance decrements during a week of sleep restricted to 4-5 hours per night. Sleep, 20(4):267-77, 1997.
6. Weissman M et al. The morbidity of insomnia uncomplicated by psychiatric disorders. General Hospital Psychiatry, 19(4):245–250, 1997.
7. Axelsson J et al. Beauty sleep: experimental study on the perceived health and attractiveness of sleep deprived people. BMJ, 341:c6614, 2010.
8. National Sleep Foundation. Sleep Apnea. 2016.

Data protection policies

Withings guarantees the confidentiality of personal data and protects the privacy of all its users. Our ethical commitments relative to the confidentiality of data are specified in detail in our privacy policy.

All data used by the Withings Health Observatory are permanently anonymized and aggregated, built upon a pool of users having accepted the terms and conditions of use of Withings services.

In order to avoid reidentification of individual data, the data aggregation satisfies a minimum threshold relative to the size of each aggregate: if the number of units in each studied class is inferior to the minimum threshold, the corresponding data is excluded and replaced by "N/A". 0 is displayed as a valid numerical data.

Definitions

Physical activity level classes used are: Sedentary - number of daily steps < 4000 ; A bit active - 4000 ≤ number of daily steps < 7000 ; Moderately active - 7000 ≤ number of daily steps < 10000 ; Active - number of daily steps ≥ 10000.

BMI (Body Mass Index) classes used are those defined by the World Health Organization: Underweight - BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 ; Normal - 18.5 ≤ BMI < 25 kg/m2 ; Overweight - 25 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m2 ; Moderate obesity - 30 ≤ BMI < 35 kg/m2 ; Severe obesity - 40 ≤ BMI < 40 kg/m2 ; Morbid obesity - BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2. Therefore, the prevalence of overweight and obesity corresponds to the percentage of subjects with a BMI greater than or equal to 25 kg/m2.

Blood pressure classes used are those defined by the American Heart Association: Hypotension - systolic pressure < 90 mmHg / diastolic pressure < 60 mmHg ; Normal - 90 ≤ systolic pressure < 120 mmHg / 60 ≤ diastolic pressure < 80 mmHg ; Prehypertension - 120 ≤ systolic pressure < 140 mmHg / 80 ≤ diastolic pressure < 90 mmHg ; Hypertension - systolic pressure ≥ 140 mmHg / diastolic pressure ≥ 90 mmHg.