Because of Smartphones and Co Almost every third student has sleep problems

Long screen times: Health impairments due to sleep disorders

In a recent study, it has been shown that almost every third student in Germany suffers from sleep disorders and does not get enough sleep at night. This affects your health. The lack of sleep is related to the greatly increased screen times of children and adolescents. Many spend more than four hours a day watching television, smartphones or tablets.

Impaired health and concentration due to lack of sleep

Millions of Germans suffer from sleep disorders. The consequences can be serious: sufferers are often tired during the day and have concentration problems. Health is also endangered. A recent report shows that many children and young people too little sleep. This is mainly because they spend too much time in front of the screen, for example, to use social media.

Many students sleep far too little at night. The lack of sleep is related to the greatly increased screen times of children and adolescents. Many spend more than four hours a day in front of smartphones and co. (Image: Focus Pocus LTD / fotolia.com)

Serious health problems

Sleep disorders can not only cause tiredness and concentration problems, but also serious health problems.

According to health experts, sleep disorders increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases such as high blood pressure, mental illnesses such as depression and lead to a weakening of the immune system.

Furthermore, a scientific study by the University of Duisburg-Essen showed that sleep disorders can also increase the risk of stroke.

Exhausted and tired

The DAK Health Prevention Radar 2018 now shows that almost one in three students suffer from sleep disorders.

Half of the children and adolescents feel exhausted during the day and complain of tiredness.

Especially older students sleep too little. For example, ninth and tenth graders report an average of only about seven hours of sleep per night. Also due to the lack of sleep, students suffer increasingly under stress.

According to a statement, the health insurance fund has carried out the current school study with the Institute for Therapy and Health Research (IFT North) in six federal states.

For this purpose, almost 9,300 students in grades five to ten were interviewed in a representative manner.

Girls often suffer from sleep disorders

The study shows that girls suffer from sleep disorders more often than boys: while every third person has sleep problems at least once a week, boys are only 24 percent.

Depending on the grade level, the respondents sleep at very different times: fifth and sixth graders between 8 pm and 10 pm, ninth and tenth graders mostly after 11 pm. About one in six older students say they do not go to sleep until after midnight.

On average, the younger people get 9.4 hours of sleep per night and the tenth-graders only 7.3 hours. That's a fifth or 120 minutes less than recommended by experts for this age group.

Lack of sleep is associated with greatly increased screen times

The prevention radar proves that the lack of sleep is related to the greatly increased screen times of students: many sit more than four hours a day in front of TV, smartphone or tablet. Just under a fifth shows depressive symptoms.

"At night, students worry about having full batteries on their smartphones, but they do not charge their own batteries enough," comments Andreas Storm, CEO of DAK Health, the results.

"Sleep deprivation and insomnia are easily underestimated and can cause serious problems."

In fact, the report shows a close relationship between sleep deprivation and stress. The less sleep the respondents get, the more they feel stressed.

Of the girls, almost half (48 percent) say they often or very often suffer from stress. One third of the boys are affected. The perceived frequency of stress increases with age.

Among the younger students, only five percent feel very stressed a lot, among the older 14 percent.

Increased stress is no triviality, but is associated with frequent head, back and abdominal pain. Dejection can also intensify.

About one sixth of respondents (16 percent) often or often feel unhappy. In particular, girls (23 percent) make statements that point to depressive symptoms.

Smartphones rob students of sleep

One explanation for the shortened sleeping time of the students is the increasing use of VDUs.

As the DAK prevention radar shows, the more time they spend in front of screens, the less they sleep.

Smartphone and other devices are already popular with fifth grade students. The majority of children (56 percent) say they spend up to one hour a day in front of the screen.

Ninth and tenth graders easily go three times over: a quarter (28 percent) of older students talk about more than four hours a day on the screen. That is the self-perception of the students.

The time they actually spent with tablet, computer, mobile phone and TV together, should be above that.

"The smartphones rob the students of sleep," says study leader Prof. Dr. med. Reiner Hanewinkel from IFT North.

"Our prevention radar clearly proves the link between lack of sleep and long screen times. To prevent health problems, we need effective programs for a more conscious use of digital media. "

Many lack sufficient exercise

Another deficit: Only 35 percent of the students are sufficiently physically active.

According to the national movement recommendations, children and adolescents should move at least 90 minutes daily, of which 60 minutes can be the traversing of paths by bicycle or scooter.

But the vast majority do not live up to these recommendations. Cycling and scooter rides are still relatively popular among students in grades five and six, with one third claiming to drive up to 60 minutes per day.

But among the ninth and tenth graders, interest is diminishing. Only one-fifth (19 percent) of the elderly drive longer distances by bike.

Lack of exercise not only makes the little ones less fit, but also promotes overweight and the onset of diseases such as diabetes. (Ad)