A majority (83%) of Americans believe that exposure to natural daylight is critical to their good health, according to a new survey. Yet the findings come at a time when Americans increasingly spend most of their time inside, underscoring the need for technologies that can simulate daylight indoors.
The disconnect is significant since most respondents reported spending a majority of their time indoors, with nearly half (49%) saying they are inside 12-23 hours each day. Government studies put the numbers even higher, revealing that most Americans now spend 93% of their lives indoors.
The survey’s findings around light’s impact on sleep were particularly telling. The pandemic and its quarantine measures have increased stress and changed sleep behaviors, fueling insomnia and circadian rhythm sleep-wake disorders[2] for many. The survey bore this out, with half (50%) of those under 35 years of age and nearly a third (32%) of those 35-54 reporting they are getting less sleep since the start of the pandemic.
Comments