Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
9 in 10 teenagers lack sleep
By Lee Hyo-sik
The majority of teenagers here don’t get enough sleep, making them more prone to unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and drinking.
In a survey of 75,643 students at middle and high schools across the nation, the Korean Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said Monday that most students are in a state of sleep deprivation on weekdays and engaged in an array of behaviors that negatively affect their health.
The survey found 74.8 percent of middle school students and 97.9 percent of high school students sleep less than 8 hours a night on weekdays.
Middle school students slept 7.1 hours on average, and high school students 5.5 hours.
A KCDC official said that the National Sleep Foundation in the United States recommends that adolescents aged 10-17 sleep between 8.5 and 9.3 hours a night.
But 88.5 percent of middle school students and 99.2 percent of high school students here were found to sleep less than 8.5 hours, he said.
“Teenagers sleeping less than 5 hours are more likely to smoke and drink, and spend more time surfing the Internet or playing online games,” the official said.
The survey also found 12.1 percent of adolescents smoked, while 20.6 percent of them drank alcohol.
“More than 80 percent of them said it is not difficult to purchase cigarettes and alcohol,” the official said. “Given this, to lower smoking and drinking rates, it is necessary to make it harder for adolescents to buy these products.”
The KCDC also said the consumption of carbonated drinks and fast food by Korean youths has been declining.
About 23.2 percent of surveyed adolescents said they drink soda more than three times a week this year, down from 42.9 percent in 2008 and 52.9 percent in 2005.
Only 11.6 percent of elementary and secondary students here were found to eat hamburgers and other high-calorie, low-nutrition fast foods more than three times a week, down from 21.6 percent in 2008 and 30.5 percent in 2005.
Additionally, 41.3 percent of youths said they brush their teeth after lunch at school, up from 34.5 percent in 2008 and 24.4 percent in 2005.