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Sleep deprivation affects 1 in 3 students

Almost half of all students have trouble getting up in the morning and more than a third does not feel well rested while studying. Students should pay more attention to their sleep , researchers think.
Hoger Onderwijs Persbureau

Photo: Nigel Pepper

The Dutch Association for Sleep/Wake Research (NSWO) wanted to know how many sleeping problems students have and what this does with their study results. Almost fourteen hundred students of universities and colleges completed the online research.

Students do not always sleep well. A quarter usually does not want to study due to sleepiness and another half has this weekly. Two in three students actually want to sleep longer.

Does this have consequences for their study? For sure, because students with sleep deprivation on average score half a point less on their exams. But they still score just as many study points compared to their well-rested fellow students.

‘The differences are not large, but they are there’, says neurologist Hans Hamburger from the Amsterdam Sleep Center. ‘The trend is that less sleep lead to decreased performances. Young people have reserves, but when they are used, then it takes its toll.’ Last week it was found that study results of adults was not influenced by sleep deprivation.

On the site of the Hersenstichting (brain foundation) the importance of good sleep was explained and there are tips on how to sleep better.

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