Unit 3 Early to Bed, Early to Rise

ScienceDaily (Sep. 30, 2011)

Ben Franklin was right, at least on the healthy part. "Early to bed and early to rise" appears to have helped a cross-section of early-bird Australian youths keep slimmer and more physically active than their night-owl peers, even though both groups got the same amount of sleep.

A study in the Oct. 1 issue of the journal Sleep recorded the bedtimes and wake times of 2,200 Australian participants, ages 9 to 16, and compared their weights and uses of free time over four days. Children who went to bed late and got up late were 1.5 times more likely to become obese than those who went to bed early and got up early. Furthermore, late-nighters were almost twice as likely to be physically inactive and 2.9 times more likely to sit in front of the TV and computer or play video games for more hours than guidelines recommend.

"The children who went to bed late and woke up late, and the children who went to bed early and woke up early got virtually the same amount of sleep in total," said co-author Carol Maher, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow with the University of South Australia. "Scientists have realized in recent years that children who get less sleep tend to do worse on a variety of health outcomes, including the risk of being overweight and obese. Our study suggests that the timing of sleep is even more important."

Maher said mornings are more conducive to physical activity for young people than nights, which offer prime-time TV programming and social networking opportunities. This relationship between time of day and available activities might explain why more sedentary and screen-based behaviors were observed with later bedtimes, she said. At a time when research is showing that teenagers have a natural tendency to stay up late and wake late, the results of this study could stand as a warning.

"It is widely accepted that the sleep patterns of adolescents are fundamentally different from children and adults, and that it is normal for adolescents to stay up very late and sleep in late in the morning," Maher said. "Our findings show that this sleeping pattern is associated with unfavorable activity patterns and health outcomes, and that the adolescents who don't follow this sleep pattern do better."

Other findings from the University of South Australia study:

·      Early-bed/early-risers went to bed 70 to 90 minutes earlier, woke up 60 to 80 minutes earlier and accumulated 27 minutes more moderate to vigorous physical activity each day than late-risers.

·      Late-bed/late-risers watched TV, played video games or were online 48 minutes longer each day than early-bed/early risers, primarily between 7 p.m. and midnight.

·      Only 12 percent of late-bed/late-risers had an average of two hours or less screen time per day, which is recommended for children and teens by the Australian Department of Health and Aging. In comparison, 28 percent of early-bed/early risers met the recommendation for screen time.

·      On a broad scale, late-bed/late-risers replaced about 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity with 30 minutes of sedentary behavior each day, relative to the early-bed/early-rise group.

·      Body-mass index (BMI) scores were higher in late-risers than early-risers, and late-risers were more likely to be overweight or obese.

·      Late-bed/late-risers tended to have few siblings, live in major cities, come from lower household incomes and have a part-time job.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council contributed financially to this study.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110930052216.htm

Essay 3 

Sleep Deprivation and teenagers

Sleeping  is integral to the health and well-being of all people. Sleep disorders are on the rise and affect millions of people in the world, specially adults and teenagers.

 Misconceptions about sleeping  are prevalent, and the negative effects of poor sleep has grown up  through the years. Deprivation  Sleep decreases human productivity and performance, and increases mortality and causes  other issues like  stress, depression ,on people`s  overall health and wellbeing. All this sleep disorders  are severe , but  they  are worrying in teenagers, because they are the most affected group with  changes in sleep patterns. Because of this, it  is important to be informed about the importance of sleep, the consequences of sleep deprivation,  and the relationship between the teenagers and the disorder.

Sleep deprivation  is considered a part of  modern  life for many people.  Sleep deprivation  is voluntary, and the decline in sleep is not normal. Because we now live in a changing world , our mind  and our need for sleeping  will not adapt to this lifestyle.The importance of sleeping  well is vital for brain function  because sleeping  is brain food, the center of our body. Innovation and  technology makes to people believe that they could reduce the hours of sleep and that they should get used to it without having consequences in everyday life.

 Insomnia cannot be visibly seen like other handicaps, and workers suffering from insomnia may encounter difficulty explaining their condition. Studies show that insomnia symptoms are associated with many health conditions affecting physical and mental health (Siversten et al. 2009). Fatigue, irritability, concentration difficulties, disorientation, changes in mood, visual hallucinations, and paranoid thoughts are some of the problems associated with sleep deprivation and directly affect a person's performance (Bonnet 2005).These are most common consequences of sleep deprivation more common and studied. But there are still studied disorders and diseases that are caused by sleep deprivation and its increase is because every time more alarming is the sleepless hours and its effects.[1]

Sleep disorders can be deadly and their prevalence is increasing, creating widespread public health challenges. It is no surprise that sleep is problematic considering that teenagers sleep less than ever before and have less healthy lifestyles. Normal sleep is important for the development of children and adolescents (Anstead 2000; Dahl & Lewin 2002). Although inconsistent, evidence suggests that the consequences of sleep deprivation in children and adolescents are likely to manifest across several functional domains (Fallone et al. 2002; Fredriksen et al. 2004). Teenagers with low or irregular amounts of sleep have more sick days and an increased rate of injuries (Acebo et al. 1997).

 The consequences and different reasons for the phenomenon of sleep deprivation are not yet completed. It is through observation and studies that have come to observe their effects and importance of sleep are seen . Adolescents sleep significantly less than the recommended 9 h, and sleep duration decreases with increasing age. This probably has both physiological and socio-psychological reasons. The issue of sleep deprivation is also a political one, as school starting times, duration of commuting to school and school schedules have an impact on sleep duration, student performance and daytime sleepiness. [2]

Bibliography

Loessi, B. B., Valerius, G. G., Kopasz, M. M., Hornyak, M. M., Riemann, D. D., & Voderholzer, U. U. (2008). Are adolescents chronically sleep-deprived? An investigation of sleep habits of adolescents in the Southwest of Germany. Child: Care, Health & Development, 34(5), 549-556

Wells, M., & Vaughn, B. V. (2012). Poor Sleep Challenging the Health of a Nation. Neurodiagnostic Journal, 52(3), 233-249.

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[1] Wells, M., & Vaughn, B. V. (2012). Poor Sleep Challenging the Health of a Nation. Neurodiagnostic Journal, 52(3), 233-249.

[2] Loessl, B. B., Valerius, G. G., Kopasz, M. M., Hornyak, M. M., Riemann, D. D., & Voderholzer, U. U. (2008). Are adolescents chronically sleep-deprived? An investigation of sleep habits of adolescents in the Southwest of Germany. Child: Care, Health & Development, 34(5), 549-556