Sydney, Aug 13 (IANS): Researchers have found that young and middle-aged adults in Asia had the shortest sleep duration as compared to others and it may be happening because of the high cultural demands there.

"Higher work and educational demands in Asian countries compared to the West likely explain the latter's shorter sleep duration," said M. Gradisar from Flinders University in Australia.

According to the researchers, young adults in Asia had the shortest sleep duration (6hr 30min), whereas those in Oceania (7hr 14min) and Europe, (7hr 7min) had the longest. Young adults in Central and Southern America and the Middle East also reported short sleep (6hr 40min).

"Our findings suggest that cultural factors likely impinge upon the sleep opportunity of young people around the world," Gradisar said.

For the study published in the journal Sleep Medicine, researchers compared the sleeping habits of 17,335 people who were asked to wear fitness trackers through which their 14-day sleep patterns were tracked.

The researchers studied the sleep duration, sleep midpoint and weekend catch up for participants aged 16 to 30 years.

The findings also indicate that differences in sleep durations shift dramatically throughout adolescence and stabilises near 30 years of age around the world.