The siesta culture concept is not supported by the sleep habits of urban Mexican students

Abstract

SUMMARY Evidence in support for the concept of the so-called 'siesta culture' is not well developed and has, to date, relied largely on qualitative anthropological data. Presumably such cultures are characterized by a strong tendency for daytime naps and daytime sleepiness, phenomena which may partially represent the effects of geographic, climatic or light conditions and/or cultural influences. In this study we surveyed the nocturnal sleep habits and daytime sleep tendencies of 577 Mexican college students residing in Mexico City (19°N latitude). Results indicated a number of parallels between the reported sleep habits of these students and those reported from other cultures at latitudes far to the north (North America, Europe), such as longer sleep at the weekends, an association between snoring and daytime sleepiness and a lack of relationship between nocturnal sleep duration and the reported tendency to nap. There was some suggestion that these Mexican students may actually nap less when compared to other college student populations. Taken together, these results call into question what is meant by the concept of a 'siesta culture', at least in this urban, educated, upper social economic scale (SES) population, and suggest that future studies in equatorial regions be undertaken to further appreciate the role of climate, photoperiod and/or culture in the tendency for humans to nap during the day.

Siestas among Brazilian native Terena adults: a study of daytime napping

“…The repression of the siesta habit has been described in populations that suffer time pressure when undergoing industrialization 21 . This reduction of siesta in urban developing populations has been shown to occur in groups previously considered as siesta cultures, i.e., Greece, Italy and Mexico 8,9,10,22 . In Greece, Soldatos et al 8 found 47% of the population showed weekly napping; in Italy, Lugaresi et al 5 found 36% napping weekly.…”

“…Several authors have shown that even in populations traditionally considered as siesta cultures such as Italy and Greece, not everyone sleeps everyday 5,[8][9][10] . In Sao Paulo city 20 , 25.4% nap during the day.…”

“…The regular daytime nap is found in several populations around the world, and is sometimes called the siesta culture. It is subject to circadian, cultural and environmental factors [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] . This research is part of a larger project that we have been systematically conducting to describe and understand the ethnic influences on sleep, with emphasis on the Native Brazilian [14][15][16][17] .…”

Sleep deprivation of working adolescents—a hidden work hazard

“…Several Latin American studies aiming to evaluate work conditions and health outcomes among working adolescents have earlier been published (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Results from these studies show that adolescents who work and attend evening classes wake up earlier and have a shorter nocturnal sleep duration and shorter total sleep duration during the week than nonworking students.…”

La siesta y el exceso de peso en escolares de Mérida, Yucatán. Estudio analítico transversal

“…Ésta no es un evento ocasional, sino una costumbre arraigada culturalmente que se mantiene a través de las generaciones y forma parte de la rutina diaria de muchas familias en el mundo, particularmente en las regiones tropicales y calurosas situadas entre los 30° al norte y 30° al sur del ecuador. 1,2 La siesta, vista por parte de los integrantes de las culturas que no la practican, suele percibirse como un signo de flojera o falta de ambición, característico de las llamadas "culturas de la siesta". 1,3 Yucatán es un estado situado al sureste de México, bañado por las aguas del Golfo de Mé-xico.…”