It appears that the recession has forced Americans to cut back on everything from health care to groceries. According to the results of a poll released Monday, it's also driving them to give up sleeping; nearly a third of all Americans are losing sleep over worries about the sagging economy and the prospects of losing their job.

Money is the top concern, far outweighing other problems such as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorist attacks, and global warming. Results of the annual poll by the National Sleep Foundation were released Monday.

"What is very telling is that these Americans whose sleep is impacted by financial worries report that their sleep disturbance makes them much less likely to work efficiently, exercise, eat healthily, and have sex compared to their better-sleeping fellow Americans," said report co-author Michael Vitiello, a profess of psychiatry at the University of Washington.

The poll, which surveyed 1,000 adults, also found that healthy respondents who got enough sleep were twice more likely to work efficiently, eat healthy or exercise than those in poor health. Actually there was a 13 percent increase since 2001 in the number of people reporting sleep problems. The number of Americans sleeping less than six hours per night also jumped from 13 to 20 percent, and there was a 10-percent drop in those who said they slept eight hours or more.

At the same time more than one-half of adults say they have driven when drowsy at least once in the past year and nearly one-third of drivers polled say they have nodded off or fallen asleep while driving a vehicle.