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From motion to rest: Crafting healthy days and nights

Sleep and exercise. A bilateral relationship that is absolutely essential for the development of a human being.

Sleep enables humans to grow and garner more information from the world, while exercise assists in the development of muscles and the reduction of excessive body fat.

However, despite all these advantages, teenagers never seem to be getting either of these fundamental qualities in the right doses.

According to NationWide Childrens, the average teenager only manages to sleep between seven, and 7¼ hours. This is a vast difference from the required 9¼ hours needed just for body development.

This could be caused by many factors.

According to a study by the Current Sleep Medicine Reports, after puberty, there is a biological shift in an adolescent’s internal sleeping clock of about two hours. Therefore, a teenager who used to doze off at 7pm, will now only achieve drowsiness at 9pm. This also applies to waking times. Another reason could be due to the early high school start times – children who live in different districts may have to wake up as early as 5am to reach their schools on time.

Sleep deprivation can lead to some adverse effects.

Marcus Flores, 19, who hails from Manila said: “I stayed up for 36 hours one day – studying for my exams and chatting with my girlfriend. I started experiencing hallucinations and couldn’t focus on walking properly.”

This is a common symptom experienced by those who do not get proper sleep. Cognitive abilities, such as decision-making and reaction times are considerably slowed down, according to the Sleep Foundation in a 2023 study.

Zao Zhong, 16, from Subang Jaya, shares a different perspective.

“I often use my sleeping time to study. One of the side-effects is muscle soreness on a daily basis. Moreover, my eyes would dry up or sometimes tear up if I did not repay my sleep debt, or go through prolonged periods of sleep deprivation,” said Zhong.

It is essential to sleep the required number of hours. Oversleeping and undersleeping are both conditions that can negatively impact physical and mental health.

The same applies to exercise.

According to a factsheet by the World Health Organisation, the average teenager needs to exercise for about 60 minutes, daily.

However, according to a 2012 report from the National Youth Fitness Survey, adolescents engaged, on average, in 39 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day. This is significantly less than the required amount and, is a cause for concern.

“I don’t exercise daily, only once a week … mostly just cardio, while listening to music. I probably should exercise more. However, it is easier said than done, as I have to juggle between college and my job. I probably should exercise more,” said Tan Zhi Kai, 18, from Penang.

This sentiment is shared by many teenagers bogged down by busy schedules, academics, and other extracurricular activities.

Exercise helps to burn calories and maintain weight, as well as reduce stress and relieve anxiety and depression – according to a 2021 report by the Harvard Medical School.

“I run daily for 90 minutes,” said Muhammad Irfan Zulkifli, 14, from Pahang.

“I even occasionally play football to maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

However, there is a way out of the spiralling abyss of sleep deprivation and exercise.

Budgeting a minimum of eight hours of sleep into the schedule and maintaining it on the weekdays and weekends can greatly improve consistency and enable adolescents to adapt to the cycle.

Moreover, it is recommended that you avoid caffeine and energy drinks before sleeping to ensure uninterrupted sleep. A study by the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine in 2013 found that sleep disturbance is prevalent even if caffeine is consumed six hours before sleeping.

On the topic of exercise, parents can work together with adolescents to find a sport that truly interests them – slowly morphing that into a daily activity.

It is encouraged to make the sport social – friends and family can be invited to participate as well, making it more enjoyable and therefore, more gratifying.

To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged 17 and below) and would like to have your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.

All articles must be accompanied by the young writer’s full name, MyKad number, contact number, and the mobile number of the young writer’s parents/guardians for verification purposes.

The views expressed here are the personal opinions of the writers and do not necessarily represent those of Twentytwo13.