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.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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