Southerners get worse sleep than others... is it because they're more likely to be obese?

People who live in the the South get the worst sleep, according to a new study.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine identified six states with the highest rates of sleep disturbances. These are (starting with the worst); West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri.

24/7 Wall St. looked at the six states and highlighted a number of quality of life factors which might prevent people of some states from sleeping as well as those from others.

The Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine identified six states with the highest rates of sleep disturbances; West Virginia, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and Missouri

According to the study, the states with the highest rates of sleep disturbance, described as 'problems falling asleep, problems staying asleep, and/or sleeping too much', have a number of things in common. 

'Regional differences in sleep disturbance could be explained by a number of factors, the strongest of which being differences in mental and physical health, healthcare access, smoking, latitude/longitude and body mass index,' Dr. Michael Grandner, lead author of the study, told 24/7 Wall St.

 

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Obesity is high in all six states with the worst sleepers, reports 24/7 Wall Street which analysed the study's findings by using data from the Census Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Human Development Project.

Three of the states have the highest obesity rates in the country, with Mississippi with the highest followed by West Virginia and then Alabama. 

The other three states are in the top 12, reports 24/7 Wall Street.  

People who live in the the South get the worst sleep, according to a new study

All six states with the worst sleep are also among the top 11 states with the highest smoking rates among adults. 

West Virginia, which has the highest rate of sleep disturbance, also has the highest rate of smokers in the country, reports 24/7 Wall Street.

Five of the six states with the worst sleep are also among the 10 states with the lowest median household incomes in the country, and Missouri is the 14 lowest. 

The study by the Journal  was carried out by asking 157,319 people from 33 states questions about the quality of their sleep in the previous two weeks. 

SIX STATES WITH THE WORST SLEEP PATTERNS

1. West Virginia (Sleep disturbance: 26%) It has the second-most obese population in the country (32.5%) and the largest percentage of smokers (26.8%). West Virginia also has the second-lowest life expectancy in the country, at 75.2 years.
2. Oklahoma (Sleep disturbance: 24.7%) Oklahoma has the third-highest rate of smoking among its adult population in the country (23.7per cent) . Although its obesity rate is not one of the highest, ranking 11th among the states, it still stands at 30%. 
3. Mississippi (Sleep disturbance: 22.4%) It has the highest rate of obesity in the country, at 34% and the 5th highest rates of smoking in the country of 22.9%. Life expectancy in the state is just 74.8 years - the shortest estimated lifespan of any state. 
4. Alabama (Sleep disturbance: 22.3%)  Life expectancy in Alabama is the third-lowest in the country and the obesity rate is the third highest at 32.2%.The state also has the seventh-highest cancer rate with eight highest smoking rate at 21.9%. 
5. Arkansas (Sleep disturbance: 22.1%)  More than 30% of the populating is obese, which is the 12th highest rate in the country and it has the 4th highest number of smokers at 22.9%.        
6. Missouri (Sleep disturbance: 21.3%) The state’s population is generally unhealthy, with the 11th highest smoking rate in the country at 21.1% and more than 30% (the 10th highest) of the population overweight.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2113636/Southerners-worse-sleep--theyre-likely-obese.html#ixzz1ow9673gj