A new survey reveals that one out of every five junior and senior high school students in Taiwan have experienced insomnia, as reported by Focus Taiwan.

The survey on the sleeping patterns of youngsters, sponsored by the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine, was aimed at understanding the prevalence of insomnia among Taiwan’s youth and its correlation with homework, electronic device usage and sleeping patterns.

The results showed that about 24 percent of the youngsters surveyed had experienced insomnia, with the ratio closer to 30 percent for respondents in Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung.

Huang Yen-lin (???), a clinical psychologist at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, said youngsters in Taipei and New Taipei spend a lot of time in schools, cram schools and arts classes and often go to bed at 11 p.m. or 12 p.m.

He urged parents to arrange extracurricular activities shortly after the school day ends to keep their children from going to bed too late.

A lack of sleep, he said, will hurt the children’s performance in school because it will hurt their concentration.

View the full story at www.focustaiwan.tw