Friday, March 18, marked World Sleep Day and WeCare Health Bathurst practice principal Dr Pav Phanindra said it's a great opportunity to highlight the importance of good sleep hygiene.

Insufficient sleep can lead to more than just feeling tired during the day, it has been linked to a number serious health issues.

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"World Sleep Day was basically the time to talk about the importance around sleep," Dr Pav said.

"Sleep is the foundation for health and wellbeing and impacts on your physical, emotional, psychological and sexual wellbeing.

"Sleep has a lot of important functions that we sometimes take for granted, it is an essential biological function of life."

Receiving a sufficient amount of sleep each night helps the body to recover and repair itself.

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Sleep also moderates mood, supports memory function and supports learning.

Dr Pav said not getting enough sleep can also become quite dangerous.

"Sleep problems can affect how you think, how you concentrate and obviously less sleep means reaction times decrease and it can lead to errors where you work and accidents," he said.

"Insufficient sleep has also been found to be directly correlated to obesity, cardiovascular disease, type two diabetes and poor mental health."

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The recommended hours of sleep for people changes depending on a number of factors including age and lifestyle.

Dr Pav said children three to five years of age usually require 10 to 13 hours of sleep including naps during the day, teens and preteens should have around eight to 10 hours and adults usually only need between six and eight hours at night.

One mistake that people make with their sleep hygiene is not going to bed when they start to get tired.

"Sleep when you get sleepy, don't go and sit in front of Netflix," Dr Pav said.

For those who have trouble falling asleep, Dr Pav recommends sitting in a dark quiet room for a while.

Cutting out stimulants like caffeine or alcohol four to six hours before bed also helps.

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