Why sleep is important
Sleep is a vital function for our bodies that allows us to recharge our minds and be active the next day. It is essential for people of all ages, however, it is especially beneficial for students. This is because maintaining a proper sleep cycle has been shown, amongst other things, to lead to better academic performance and improved mental health.
Dangers for not having enough sleep
According to the Sleep Foundation, an adult between the ages of 18 and 64 years old requires 7-9 hours of sleep, whereas a teenager between the ages of 14 and 18 needs between 8-10 hours of sleep. Additionally, the Sleep Foundation states that children of ‘school age’ (between 6-13 years old) need a minimum of 9 hours of sleep a day and a maximum of 11. Recently, a gene has been discovered in some people which allows them to be able to thrive off of less than 6 hours of sleep daily. However, very little of the world's population contains this genetic mutation.
Although many external factors such as work, school and extracurricular activities can reduce the amount of time you are asleep for each day, it is still important to try to maintain a healthy sleep schedule. Experts have suggested that it may be possible for people to become used to a chronic sleep schedule, which can, in turn, cause many severe health problems, including mood shifts, attention lapses, lack of concentration, obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and an increased risk of strokes.
Hong Kong related examples
Sleep problems affect people of all ages around the world, and Hong Kong is not an exception. In recent COVID-19 times, many young people have been reducing the amount of time they sleep for. However, the amount of people lacking a sufficient amount of sleep in Hong Kong has been prominent since before the pandemic even started. For example, a survey conducted in 2016 showed that people living in Hong Kong had an average of 1.5 hours sleep deficit. This was the worst out of any country in the Asia-Pacific region at that time.
According to a survey conducted by an associate professor of psychology for the University of Hong Kong (HKU), around 57% of the 173 people aged between 20 and 45 that filled out the survey had ‘insufficient sleep’, additionally respondents had an average of four hours of sleep daily, with an average ‘sleep rating’ of 5/10. 75% of people who answered the survey stated they had lost between 1 and 15 hours of sleep in recent times due to work.
How to improve sleep
Although returning to a healthy sleep pattern after adapting to a derogatory one can be hard, it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. There are multiple ways of helping people return to a healthy sleep reschedule and improving overall sleeping conditions and experiences:
Establish a bedtime and ‘wake up time’ that you stick to every single day, even on weekends. This will help your body learn a schedule and get used to it.
Refrain from drinking highly caffeinated drinks, such as coffee, 8 hours before you go to bed.
Make your room dark and cold when you want to go to sleep. This is as your body temperature needs to drop by around 1 degree before you can go to sleep.
If you can’t sleep for 25 minutes, get out of your bed and go and do some work until you feel tired again. This is so that your brain associates your bed with something to sleep on.
Don’t hit the snooze button, no matter how compelling it seems.
Find comfortable bedding and pillows.
Try not going on devices around 30 minutes before you go to sleep. This is to minimise the effect of blue light on your sleeping patterns. You can alternatively try reading a book, listening to music or doing yoga.
Do keep in mind that these tips to help you sleep won’t be as beneficial if you are suffering from a sleep disorder, such as insomnia. If you think this might be the case, consult a doctor for a diagnosis.
Sources
Writer: Anvita Verma
Editor: Jessica Leung
Artist: Alicia Fok
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