COUNSELLOR MESSAGE

“Switch off the Gadgets and Get More Sleep”
(Dr Chris Idzikowski of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre)

"Youngsters need to be taught that a healthy lifestyle includes healthy sleep as well as healthy food.” In a survey conducted, teenagers were found putting their health and academic performance at risk by having bedrooms full of gadgets such as televisions, computers, iPods and mobile phone. Researchers have coined the term 'junk sleep' to refer to the type of sleep grabbed by young people who leaves televisions or music on as they drop off. They say that junk sleep could soon rival junk food as a major lifestyle worry among parents.

Of a thousand 12-16 year olds surveyed, findings showed that nearly a quarter of them fall asleep whilst watching television, listening to music or with another gadget running. Possibly more worrying is the fact that a third of young people admit to only getting between four and seven hours sleep on school nights and even less at weekends. The recommended amount of sleep for this age group is between eight and nine hours. In a separate research, Stanley Coren (a Canadian sleep expert) claims that people lose one IQ point the next day for every hour of sleep they lose the night before.

As a follow-up study on the effects of sleep deprivation, the American National Sleep Foundation found that students obtaining lower grades went to bed later and had fewer hours sleep than their higher-achieving classmates. The low performing students were observed coming to school very grumpy, very tired, irritable and getting involved in silly little disputes and not ready for learning. And, when they looked into the problem, a lot of the children had televisions, PlayStations, Xboxes and even computers in their bedroom.

Other effects of lack of sleep on your teens:

• They are more likely to feel hungry the day after they haven’t had enough sleep.  If they get less than six hours sleep per night, they are 25% more likely to be overweight than people who sleep for eight hours.  (Slimming magazine, 2005)  If they sleep less than four hours per might, they become 75% more likely to be overweight (Columbia University research).
• Lack of sleep advances the effects of ageing, because their body cannot control their hormones.
• Not sleeping properly may make them clumsy and less likely to perform well in sporting activities.
• Over a period of time, not getting enough sleep will suppress their immune system and will become more vulnerable to catching all sorts of bugs and illnesses.

 Source:  Alite Newsletter, November 2007