The Society of Sleep Medicine yesterday said its survey this year of the sleeping habits of adolescents showed that 24 percent of respondents have experienced insomnia, adding that insufficient sleep can affect grades.
The survey, which was conducted in January with responses from 506 junior-high and senior-high school students, showed that adolescents spend an average of 7.12 hours sleeping on nights before school days and 9.26 hours on nights before weekend days, with senior-high school students sleeping less than junior-high school students on average because of greater academic stress.
Huang Yen-lin (黃彥霖), a clinical psychologist at Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital’s Sleep Center, who helped conduct the survey, said it determined insomnia rates by asking whether respondents were unable to fall asleep after being in bed for 30 minutes or unable to fall asleep after waking up to go to the bathroom.
Among the respondents who reported sleeping less than seven hours per night, 63.5 percent were often late for class and 75.5 percent said they have fallen asleep in class, Huang said, adding that insufficient sleep can affect gades.
About 55 percent of those who reported sleeping more than seven hours per night had grades in the top one-third of their class, while the adolescents whose grades ranked toward the bottom showed a higher rate of insomnia, he added.
The survey showed that adolescents living in the greater Taipei area and Keelung have higher rates of insomnia and on average went to sleep later.
Huang said parents might arrange extracurricular learning activities for their children, which could reduce their sleeping time and affect their learning, adding that parents should make sure children are getting enough sleep.
The organization said the survey showed that adolescents who spend more time on the Internet or playing computer games have greater rates of insomnia.
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The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
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