The British are some of the worst sleepers in the world – and there’s nothing wrong with that

If a third of Britons say we’re not getting enough sleep, that is because we are a pessimistic, unsatisfied nation whose glass is half empty

The British are among the worst sleepers in the world (Getty/iStockphoto)

If you are relishing the extra hour in bed with the clocks going back this weekend, just ponder this: the British are among the worst sleepers in the world. This extra hour may seem great, but it’s the equivalent of earning just 8p in loyalty points after spending £400 in the supermarket.

We have such rough nights throughout the rest of the year, the lie-in is hardly worth it. I should add that if you have young children, who have no regard for actual time, you miss out on this hour altogether, because they still wake up at 6.30am British Summer Time, only this is now 5.30am. (But when the clocks go forward in the spring, when everyone complains about losing an hour in bed, it works in the opposite direction, and all parental smugness is restored.)

A survey by Aviva of 13 countries has found that 37 per cent of Britons say they don’t get enough sleep, compared to just nine per cent of people in India, the best-rested nation. In Europe, Italians are the most likely nation to have a restful night’s sleep. As in many things, our culture is compared unfavourably with Italy: not only do they have better food, coffee, weather, clothes, opera, football and classical ruins, Italians beat us in the slumber stakes too. This is put down to taking a riposo, or afternoon nap, and a passeggiata, or evening stroll to clear the head before bedtime.

Like the Spanish siesta, the Italian post-lunch nap is attributed to a healthier way of living. Any problem can be solved with a quick afternoon snooze, arming the sleeper with reinvigoration to take on the rest of the day. But is this really true? Call me uptight and British if you like, but I cannot bear the concept of an afternoon nap. Whenever I have taken one – entirely by accident, you understand – I have felt even worse afterwards, my body outraged that it is not going to sleep for longer.

The afternoon nap robs you of the best time of the day, when you are just getting into the swing of things. It is a time thief, leaving you worried that you haven’t got enough hours in the day to finish that report, or go for a run, or pick up the dry cleaning. It is enough to keep you awake at night.

Babies need an afternoon nap, but as they grow into young children this sleep needs to be dropped or else bedtime is a hyperactive nightmare, with the only solution to push them round the block in the fresh night air to relax them. Is it any wonder Italians need a passeggiata to help them sleep? Perhaps if they’d just kept going all day, they would find it easier to get to bed.

Of course, it is a bad idea to go to bed still checking Twitter, our smartphones like fireflies in the dark. But I think this is all about perception. If a third of Britons say we’re not getting enough sleep, that is because we are a pessimistic, unsatisfied nation whose glass is half empty and duvet is half loft. Italians are a more relaxed, culturally confident people. Ask them how they sleep at night, and they will say “eccellente”.

But then they would say that.