A new report identified a major problem with Santa Claus that we rarely think about, and it has to do with his sleeping habits.

  • A new report from Time4Sleep recently reviewed Santa Claus’ theoretical sleeping and eating habits.
  • The report found Santa Claus suffers from so much sleep deprivation that his reaction times slows by 15.4%.
  • The number comes from a study by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The study compared Santa’s decision to stay awake for 24 hours to deliver gifts to a baseline, healthy figure.

What they’re saying: Dr. Deborah Lee said in a press release sent to the Deseret News that the lack of sleep could be dangerous for Santa:

  • Lee: “After 24 hours of sleep deprivation, Santa would be expected to feel drowsy. Short term sleep loss affects our neuromuscular function, coordination and reaction times. Brain function becomes less sharp, with impaired judgements, and poor decision-making. Hand-eye coordination worsens and there is an increase in ‘near miss’ accidents. We find our memory of recent events is starting to fail.”
  • Lee: “Other effects of sleep deprivation are moodiness, irritability and being short-tempered — not the jolly Santa we know and love!”

Bigger picture: Sleep deprivation has been defined as getting less than seven hours of sleep per night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Estimates suggest about 50-70 million U.S. adults have sleep or wakefulness disorders, according to All One Health
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