Recognising Sleep as a Public Health Priority

That the Parliament considers that healthy sleep is a fundamental pillar of public health, alongside diet and physical activity; notes with concern the growing evidence of widespread sleep deprivation and poor sleep hygiene across Scotland, particularly among children and young people; further notes what it sees as the substantial adverse impacts of chronic sleep deficiency on mental health, including increased risk of anxiety and depression, physical health, including metabolic and immune function, educational attainment, and overall national productivity; welcomes the comprehensive work undertaken by Sleep Action (formerly The Sleep Council) to raise national awareness and provide practical support for improving sleep health, including the key recommendations outlined in Sleep Action's manifesto, "Making Sleep a Core Part of Scotland’s Curriculum”, which advocates for the mandatory and systematic integration of evidence-based sleep education into the health and wellbeing curriculum within the Curriculum for Excellence; believes that proactively equipping children and young people with the knowledge and skills necessary to prioritise and achieve healthy sleep is a cost-effective and essential preventative public health measure, and encourages the Scottish Government to formally meet with representatives of Sleep Action to explore the implementation of the manifesto’s recommendations and to ensure that sleep health is given core status within future public health and educational strategies.