SLEEP DEPRIVATION? OR ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION

   The Smithsonian on line just included an article by Meilan Solly on the growing problem of sleep deprivation, with some saying they sleep less than 5 or 6 hours a night.(26 Dec. 2018)  The author found nearly a third of Americans sleep deprived, especially in the Black and Hispanic communities.  I posted a comment, which I also post below:

A decade ago, I taught in China. There was a 2-hour break after 12 noon, when I did some shopping and ate lunch. But the supermarket was quite empty of customers, and most cashier aisles were closed. Some workers napped near their cashier. On the walk to and from the market, some folks slept on their carts. When I sought to have office hours from 1 to 2, students complained that would interfere with their naps. I had not thought of the word SIESTA for China, but clearly many took the mid-day snooze. Now retired, I sleep only 5 or 6 hours at night. But in the day, I take a nap. Is the Western notion of 8 hours sleep a night simply a cultural norm, that may or may not be better than societies that have a broken sleep pattern, of some hours at night with a daily siesta?---Hugh Murray