A good night’s sleep is essential to good health, but many Latinos in the United States don’t get enough sleep.
To shed light on possible reasons, researchers are studying the sleep habits of people living near the U.S.-Mexico border.
“Honestly, I don’t think we know enough about the prevalence of[sleep problems]in the Latinx community,” said John Lewis, a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona in Tucson. , is part of a research team studying the sleep habits of Latinos living in the Nogales, Arizona region along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The goal of the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep Study is to develop a better understanding of how border and social conditions affect sleep in border regions. “Second, do these sleep patterns and associated cardiovascular risks vary as a function of ethnicity? Do Latinos experience different conditions than non-Latino? Is it beneficial or detrimental to
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, but about 1 in 3 Latinos adults get less than 7 hours of sleep. This is equivalent to the population of the entire United States.
Disorders such as poor sleep, insomnia, and sleep apnea are associated with conditions that can increase the risk of heart disease, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Until about a decade ago, sleep health among Hispanics received little attention. However, according to Census data, the Hispanic population in the United States has grown by 23% from 2010 to 2020, surpassing 62 million. Currently, sleep research in Latinos is gradually expanding, and results suggest that Latinos have a higher incidence of sleep deprivation, although the causes are still poorly understood.
In Santa Cruz County, southern Arizona, approximately 1,000 adults (mostly Mexican Americans) between the ages of 25 and 60 participate in a sleep study. “Proximity to the border can increase stress, and that stress can affect your ability to sleep,” Lewis said.
Areas bordering borders often have to contend with increased noise, but county residents live on scarce resources and are often subject to heavy political scrutiny over border safety and security. can be particularly difficult,” he said. “They can affect whether you can get a good night’s rest.”
Socioeconomic status can also affect sleep, Lewis said. About 20 percent of the county’s residents live in poverty, according to census data. Latinos make up more than 80 percent of the county’s approximately 48,000 residents, many of whom must work multiple jobs to make ends meet. “The time has to come from somewhere,” he said.
The study is being conducted in collaboration with the Mariposa Community Health Center, which collects data on sleep-related factors such as stress, acclimatization, and socioeconomic information. said Patti Molina, co-principal investigator at .
For two weeks, participants undergo a health checkup and are taken home to monitor their sleep patterns. Molina, who oversees the study in Mariposa, said non-Hispanic whites are also participating for comparative data. Some studies have shown that you sleep better and longer than you do.
Molina said the importance of the Arizona study is in identifying links between sleep, health, and social and environmental factors. These factors are “affecting a lot of people, especially here along the border.”
This study was recently restarted after an interruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ruiz is expected to be completed by the end of this year. He said the study’s findings could be applied to future studies of the growing and diversifying Hispanic population.
“We’ll have to carry that forward into the future,” Lewis said. “The Latino population is a younger group in terms of age, which means it will only increase as a percentage of the total population,” he said. It will become increasingly important as a national priority.”
© 2023, American Heart Association
