Teens are junking sleep

Young people today are surviving on what experts call ‘junk sleep’.

ARECENT UK-based survey has found that teenagers hooked on TV or computer games get only four hours’ rest a night. This is because they secretly play video games or watch TV until the early hours of the morning. One in three secondary school pupils survives on short bursts of ‘junk sleep’ and turns up exhausted for lessons the next day, according to the survey.

Dr Chris Idzikowski, from the Edinburgh Sleep Centre, in a statement has said: “This is an incredibly worrying trend. What we are seeing is the emergence of ‘junk sleep’ — sleep that is of neither the length nor quality to feed the brain with the rest it needs to perform properly at school.”

Ninety-nine per cent of the teenagers surveyed said they had a TV, music system or phone in their bedroom while two-thirds claimed to have all three. More than half of the boys, aged 12 to 14, also had a games console in their room. A fifth of the boys in this age group admitted their quality of sleep was affected by leaving the TV or computer switched on.

The story’s not very different in Bangalore. “The biggest mistake most parents commit is to allow a TV in their teenager’s room,” says sleep therapist Salomi Nathan. “The bombardment of images on the eye agitates the senses and numbs the brain. It takes a while before sleep overcomes this state. Invariably, in the morning, if the TV is still on and the child is found sleeping, he or she hasn’t had over four hours of sleep.”

It’s the same with video games and playstations. Rahul Ashok, a 19-yearold, has a playstation in his bedroom that he hits post dinner. “I keep the volume down and often play through the night. I can do with 2-3 hours of sleep,” he says, but his grades are not something that he’ll talk about. He’s already flunked II PUC twice.

Having friends to stay for “sleepovers” on school nights also increases the risk of children missing out on proper rest. “Sleepovers and combined studies are common among high-schoolers, but the fact remains that the excitement levels at these meetings are so high that sleeping is the last thing they think of,” says Ratna Chandran, a parent.

Student counsellor Judy M says, “Students getting early relationships and experiencing the first twinges of romance also exhibit the same sleep patterns as those who are hooked to computers or games. Their hormones are raging and they are generally in a state of high excitement. They need assistance to focus and should be taught the importance of sleep.”

Another common device that keeps youngsters awake, according to most Bangalore parents, is the mobile phone. “They’re busy SMSing their friends late into the night and lights out means nothing to them,” says one parent.

The Sleep Council has warned that its results showed parents were being too lenient compared to previous generations by failing to impose a strict “lights out”. According to Salomi, “The onus finally rests with the parents to see that the youngsters get the required 8-9 hours of sleep. Poor quality sleep is linked to weight gain and underperformance at school. There is also evidence that a lack of sleep can increase cravings for sugary and high-fat foods.”

The Sleep Council, which promotes the importance of a good night’s rest to health, found that...

30 per cent of teenagers get only 4-7 hours sleep on a school night
25 per cent fall asleep more than once a week while watching the TV, listening to music or with other electrical items running
Only 10 per cent give any thought to the quality of their sleep
40 per cent admit they generally felt tired in the day