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 30 August 2008 01:29 BST

Teens risking health with 'junk sleep'

Tuesday, 28 Aug 2007 08:07
Teenagers risking ill health by not gaining enough sleep

Health In Focus 

Millions of British teenagers are failing to get enough sleep as part of a healthy lifestyle, a report has warned.

New research claims that a week ahead of the new school year one in three teens are only achieving between four and seven hours worth of sleep a night instead of the recommended eight to nine.

According to youth research firm Dubit, which conducted today's survey, the detrimental effects of a lack of sleep are comparable to that of junk food.

"Unfortunately, sleep seems to be going the same way as junk food. It may even be the case that junk sleep leads to junk food," commented Dr Chris Idzikowski of the Edinburgh Sleep Centre.

The research, compiled through interviews with 1,000 12 to 16-year-olds in June, also suggests that electronic equipment such as mobile phones, music systems, televisions and game consoles could be behind the lack of sleep.

"Youngsters need to be taught a healthy lifestyle includes healthy sleep as well as healthy food. The message is simple: switch off the gadgets and get more sleep," Dr Idzikowski added.

"I'm staggered that so few teenagers make the link between getting enough good quality sleep and how they feel during the day. Teenagers need to wake up to the fact that to feel well, perform well and look well, they need to do something about their sleep," he continued.

"This is an incredibly worrying trend. What we are seeing is the emergence of junk sleep – that is sleep that is of neither the length nor quality that it should be in order to feed the brain with the rest it needs to perform properly at school."End of story


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