North Americans aren't getting the sleep they need and, according to the results of a new survey, the growing habit of using computers, laptops, televisions and other electronic devices in the hour before bedtime isn't helping matters.

The U.S.-based National Sleep Foundation released the results of its annual poll examining Americans' sleep habits on Monday, revealing that 95 per cent of respondents said they use some sort of electronics just before closing their eyes for the night.

At least a few nights a week, the survey found people turn on the TV, computer, music device, games console or cell phone within that last hour before lights out.

Taken technology-by-technology, the habits show marked trends according to age.

Older respondents, for example, were more likely to flick the television on, while younger respondents tend to favour their computers or laptops.

And when it comes to late-night video gaming, the youngest respondents were about twice as likely to try improving their high scores just before sleep.

Despite the appeal of flicking through the channels or surfing the Internet in the day's last gasps, experts warn the habit might actually make it harder to slip into dreamland.

According to Dr. Charles Czeisler of the Harvard Medical School and its affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital, exposure to artificial light cast by all those screens can actually throw off the body's natural rhythms.

"Artificial light exposure between dusk and the time we go to bed at night suppresses release of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin, enhances alertness and shifts circadian rhythms to a later hour -- making it more difficult to fall asleep," Czeisler said in a statement.

"This study reveals that light-emitting screens are in heavy use within the pivotal hour before sleep. Invasion of such alerting technologies into the bedroom may contribute to the high proportion of respondents who reported that they routinely get less sleep than they need."

Further exacerbating the problem is that many people go to sleep with their cell phone on their bed-side table, and can hear the phone's alarm when a new email or text message comes in.

Dr. Charles Samuels, of the Centre for Sleep and Human Performance in Calgary, said the result is people are "connected" nearly 24 hours per day.

"So they almost become, from my position as a sleep researcher, a shift worker," Samuels told CTV News. "Because they never let themselves rest."

'Passive' vs. 'active' technology

Even more alarming for nocturnal technophiles, a psychology professor at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia, says the problem can be exacerbated depending on the type of electronic activity.

"My research compares how technologies that are 'passively received' such as TVs and music versus those with 'interactive' properties like video games, cell phones and the Internet may affect the brain differently," Michael Gradisar said in a statement.

"The hypothesis is that the latter devices are more alerting and disrupt the sleep-onset process."

Bearing that in mind, Gradisar advises anyone who routinely surfs the net, then has trouble falling asleep, to try engaging in more 'passive' activities right before bedtime.

Whatever the reason, however, the survey found that more and more Americans are reporting they rarely, if ever, get a good night's sleep -- defined as at least 7 hours for adults and 8 hours for teens. Experts recommend teenagers get more than 9 hours of sleep each night though, far more than the average 7 hours and 26 minutes teens reported to pollsters.

So-called Generation Z'ers -- young people aged 13-18 years old -- said they were the most tired of all respondents, with 22 per cent describing themselves as "sleepy" compared with 9 per cent of baby boomers between the ages of 46 and 64.

Other highlights from the survey results include:

  • Approximately one-in-ten Generations Z'ers report being awoken from their sleep by phone calls, emails, or text messages every night or almost every night.
  • Napping is most common among the youngest respondents, with more than half of generation Zers and generation Yers admitting to at least one weekday nap.
  • Many of the sleep-deprived say their fatigue affects mood (85%), family life (72%), social life (68%) and work (74%). Just shy of two-thirds of the adults surveyed said sleepiness affects their sex life too.

Ryan Fogarty, 24, says his habit of spending his evenings watching his big-screen television, playing video games and text messaging leaves him averaging between five and six hours of sleep per night.

Fogarty says he loses track of time and goes to his retail job feeling, and looking, tired, which affects his work.

"It's hard when you show up looking tired," Fogarty told CTV News. "No one wants to buy from someone who looks tired. So it's a bit of a challenge."

Fogarty said he relies on "coffee, a lot of coffee" to get through the day, and under-eye creams to combat bags and dark circles under his eyes.

In a series of pointers for those who are having trouble sleeping, the NSF suggests sticking to regular sleep and wake times; avoiding exposure to bright lights after sunset; exercising regularly; relaxing before bed; and ensuring your sleep environment is cool, comfortable and distraction-free.

Late-night eating is also discouraged, as is the temptation to reach for an alcoholic nightcap.

Samuels also suggests that adults turn off all technology by 9 p.m., and children and teens shut down and log off before 8 p.m.

The survey, conducted by WB&A Market Research, is based on a random sample of 1,508 adults between the ages of 13 and 64. Approximately half of the responses were solicited by telephone, with the rest coming from an opt-in online poll. The results are considered accurate within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Canadian research says kids sleep-deprived

Jennifer Vriend of Dalhousie University recently completed a sleep study that included children that were 8 and 12 years of age. According to her research, not a single child in the study was getting the recommended 10 to 11 hours per night of sleep. About 75 per cent of them were getting nine hours or less.

Four straight nights of missing one hour of sleep created significant problems for the children, Vriend said.

"They had a lot more trouble thinking, they were more cloudy, more easy to distract, and had more trouble controlling their emotions," she told CTV News.

Many of the kids were playing video games or using other technology before going to bed.

"They are over-stimulated and unable to sleep," Vriend said. "And it takes them longer to go to sleep than it normally would."