Perchance to dream

Photo: Getty Images
Photo: Getty Images
Parenting columnist Ian Munro discusses the importance of teens getting a good night's sleep.
Ian Munro
Ian Munro

Our youngsters' sleep hygiene - the good habits for getting a good sleep - is not good according to a recent University of Otago study.

More than half of the 629 15-17-year-old participants (56%) had poor sleep quality. There was also a significant gender difference with 63.1% of girls affected as against 44.5% of boys.

And the reasons for poor sleep hygiene were interestingly different. For girls, it was a caffeine problem arising largely from hot drink intake during the evening. Although boys also consumed caffeine, largely from energy drinks, their sleep problem was a technology one arising from evening computer use for things such as gaming.

Teenagers, as a general rule, tend to be sleep deprived as it is, so while not a long-term health hazard, high doses of caffeine wire them just a bit too much for getting quality sleep.

With nervous systems still developing, anything more than the 20mg a day they naturally consume can also cause stomach upsets and increase heart rate, nervousness and anxiety.

As well as poor sleep hygiene, there is also a strong possibility of poor "learning hygiene'' in the classroom.

This also applies to the use of screens for gaming, social media use or studying in the evening. There is much scientific data documenting the role of light in signalling wakefulness in the morning and when to fall asleep at the appropriate time at night.

Even small devices give off sufficient light to mislead the brain and promote wakefulness. It appears that blue light suppresses melatonin, which helps regulate sleep, more than any other type of light.

This means that even any reading for relaxation before sleep shouldn't be on any form of e-reader. Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston found that their study participants, when reading from an iPad, were less sleepy before bedtime, took longer to fall asleep, spent less time in REM sleep and were sleepier and less alert even after eight hours sleep than when they read from printed books.

As adults, we are susceptible to these influences and our youngsters are even more so.

According to the Otago study, good sleep hygiene involves going to bed earlier than those who have poor sleep hygiene, and more often than not at bedtimes set or monitored by parents, and avoiding caffeine in the evening, electronic technology use at least a couple of hours before bedtime and long hours of artificial light prior to bedtime.

The outcomes of good sleep hygiene are falling asleep more quickly, sleeping for longer and, although not covered by the study, a probable positive flow-on effect on learning.

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