Why Is Sleep Important?

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Sleep is a biological necessity that public policy too often overlooks.

Even one night of disrupted sleep can impair attention, reaction time, and decision-making.

Good public policy shouldn't force a choice between achieving societal goals and protecting healthy sleep.

When people ask what I study, I explain that my work sits at the intersection of sleep science and public policy.

The typical response is, "Really? I never thought of sleep that way."

Most people think of sleep as a matter of personal responsibility

But over the past two decades, my work and that of many others has shown that some of the biggest threats to healthy sleep don't stop at the individual. They're built into the policies under which we live.

A friend of mine who follows professional cycling recently shared a story from the Tour de France that perfectly demonstrates this point.

Hours before Stage 15, two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard was awakened at 2:00 a.m. by officials from the International Testing Agency (ITA) for a random anti-doping test. According to reports, the testing........

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