Sleeping Matters
By  Colvin  Chan  (4),  Vanessa  Law  (16),  Chun  Hei  Li  (20)  
 
 

Content  
 
1.  Introduction   P.1  
2.  Survey  results   P.2-­‐5  
3.  Implications  from  the  results   P.5  
4.  Importance  of  sleeping   P.6-­‐9  
5.  Methods  to  grasp  more  time  to  sleep   P.10  
6.  Conclusion  and  Reflections   P.11  
 
 
 
 
1.  Introduction  
 
  Everyday  we  sleep.  Actually  researchers  state  that  we  would  spend  about  one  
third  of  our  lifetime  sleeping.  But  why  sleeping  is  that  essential?  What  would  be  the  
consequences  if  we  don't  sleep  enough  every  night?  
  Hong  Kong  is  a  well-­‐known  dynamic  metropolis.  People  living  here  are  
particular  about  efficiency.  It  is  common  to  see  employees  sacrificing  their  lunch  
hours  or  even  sleeping  time  for  paper  works,  or  students  staying  up  late  to  prepare  
for  exams  or  finishing  assignments.  As  a  result  of  the  fast  pace,  citizens  are  often  
suffering  from  the  lack  of  sleep.  
We  titled  our  project  “Sleeping  Matters”  and  we  aim  at  exploring  more  about  
sleeping  matters  –  sleeping  behaviors  of  people,  the  importance  of  sleeping,  the  
mechanism  of  sleeping,  and  more…  
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   1  
 
  

2.  Survey  results  
 
We  hosted  a  10-­‐questioned-­‐survey  online  at  [Link].  From  the  survey,  we  
hope  to  gather  information  on  interviewees’  sleeping  pattern  and  whether  they  think  
they  sleep  enough  or  not.  We  received  82  responses  from  the  survey.  Here  are  the  
results:  
 
 
1. What  is  your  gender?  
 
60%  of  the  interviewees  are  male;  
while  40%  are  female.  
 
 
 
 
 
2.  What  is  your  age?  
 
Most  of  the  interviewees’  age  lies  between  “14-­‐17”  
and  “18-­‐25”,  who  are  quite  young.  We  guess  this  is  
because  these  are  the  ones  who  surfs  Internet  the  
most.  
 
 
 
3. How  many  hours  do  you  sleep  every  night  (on  average)?  
 
Most  people  sleep  6  to  7  hours  every  night,  which  is  about  2  hours  less  than  the  
optimum  8-­‐9  hours  of  sleep  every  night.  
 
There  are  about  10%  of  the  interviewees  
who  get  less  than  5  hours  of  sleep  every  day.    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   2  
 
  

 
4. When  do  you  usually  go  to  bed?  
 
Almost  half  of  the  interviewees  go  to  bed  at  
12am,  while  11pm  and  1am  comes  as  the  
second  popular  option.  
 
 
 
 
 
5. Do  you  think  you  get  enough  sleep?  
(1=absolutely  not  enough,  10=absolutely  enough)  
 
This  question  asks  people  to  rate  whether  
they  sleep  enough  or  not.  
 
As  we  could  see,  people  don’t  really  think  
they  get  enough  sleep.  There  are  even  12  
people  chose  “1”,  which  means  they  think  
they  get  really  insufficient  sleep.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. What  is/are  the  reasons  for  not  having  enough  sleep?  
 
 
 
We  asked  the  interviewees  to  identify  the  
reasons  of  their  lack  of  sleep.  
 
Studying,  working,  web-­‐surfing  and  
chatting  with  friends  were  popular  
choices,  and  are  the  main  reasons  
resulting  in  the  lack  of  sleep.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Sleeping  Matters   3  
 
  

 
7. Do  you  know  the  optimum  number  of  hours  of  sleeping?  
 
 
Most  of  the  interviewees  could  identify  8-­‐
9  hours  as  the  optimum  number  of  hours  
for  sleeping.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8.  How  would  you  rate  the  quality  of  sleep?  
(1=extremely  poor,  10=just  perfect)  
 
It  is  surprising  that  quite  a  number  of  people  
think  they  enjoy  good  quality  of  sleep,    
with  “7”  as  the  most  popular  option.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Do  you  feel  energetic  when  you  wake  up  
every  morning?  
(1=strongly  disagree,  10=strongly  agree)  
 
 The  results  are  quite  average.  “5”  was  the  most  
popular  choice.    
 
 
 
 
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   4  
 
  

 
10. Could  you  identify  the  health  problems  associated  with  the  lack  of  sleep?  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
It  is  a  pity  that  most  interviewees  could  not  identify  the  health  problems  caused  
by  the  lack  of  sleep.  Within  the  6  options,  only  heart  disease  is  a  direct  problem  
associated  with  having  not  enough  sleep.  Yet  44  people  chose  low  back  pain,  
while  14  of  them  even  chose  short  sight!  
 
3.  Implications  from  the  results  
From  the  survey,  the  following  implications  could  be  derived:  
 
1. Most  people  know  the  optimum  number  of  sleeping  hours,  but  most  of  them  
do  not  sleep  enough.  
  It  is  great  that  about  74%  of  interviewees  know  that  8-­‐9  hours  of  sleep  
is  needed  every  day,  but  most  of  them  failed  to  do  so.  
 
2. The  main  reasons  for  the  lack  of  sleep  are  things  related  to  study,  work,  web  
surfing  and  chatting  with  friends.  
  It  is  understandable  that  people  sacrifices  their  time  in  things  related  to  
study  and  work;  yet  it  is  not  encouraged  to  use  sleeping  hours  in  surfing  the  
web  or  chatting  with  friends.  It  is  bad  for  our  health.    
 
3. People  enjoy  good  quality  of  sleep.  
   
4. People  do  not  feel  rejuvenated  in  the  morning  when  they  wake  up.  
 Probably  because  they  don’t  sleep  enough,  although  most  of  the  
interviewees  enjoy  good  quality  of  sleep,  it  is  even  more  to  have  
enough  sleep  every  night.  
 
5. People  lack  knowledge  on  the  health  problems  associated  with  the  lack  of  
sleep.  
   Sleeping  is  important  in  keeping  our  body  healthy.  People  could  read  
more  about  impacts  on  health  caused  by  the  lack  of  sleep.  

Sleeping  Matters   5  
 
  

4.  Importance  of  sleeping  

Before  we  investigate  the  bad  impacts  on  sleeping  deprivation(  the  lack  of  sleep),  lets  
have  a  brief  look  on  our  body’s  sleeping  mechanism.  
 
A. The  Five  Sleep  Stages  
 
In  mammals  and  birds,  sleep  is  divided  into  two  broad  types:  rapid  eye  
movement  (REM)  and  non-­‐rapid  eye  movement  (NREM  or  non-­‐REM)  sleep.  Each  
type  has  a  distinct  set  of  associated  physiological,  neurological,  and  psychological  
features.  The  American  Academy  of  Sleep  Medicine  (AASM)  further  divides  NREM  
into  three  stages:  N1,  N2,  and  N3.  
 
Sleep  proceeds  in  cycles  of  REM  and  NREM,  and  the  order  normally  being    
     N1  -­‐>  N2  -­‐>  N3  -­‐>  N2  -­‐>  REM  
 
NREM:  There  are  distinct  electroencephalographic  and  other  characteristics  
seen  in  each  stage.  There  is  usually  little  or  no  eye  movement  during  this  stage.  
Dreaming  is  rare  during  NREM  sleep,  and  muscles  are  not  paralyzed.  In  addition,  
there  is  a  parasympathetic  dominance  during  NREM.  
 
REM:  This  stage  accounts  for  20–25%  of  total  sleep  time  in  most  human  adults.  
Most  memorable  dreaming  occurs  in  this  stage.  At  least  in  mammals,  a  
descending  muscular  atonia  is  seen.  Such  paralysis  may  be  necessary  to  protect  
organisms  from  self-­‐damage  through  physically  acting  out  scenes  from  the  often-­‐
vivid  dreams  that  occur  during  this  stage.  
 
B. Optimal  Sleeping  Hours  
 
Age  and  condition   Average  amount  of  sleep  per  day  
Newborn   up  to  18  hours  
1–12  months   14–18  hours  
1–3  years   12–15  hours  
3–5  years   11–13  hours  
5–12  years   9–11  hours  
Adolescents   9–10  hours  
Adults,  including  elderly   7–8(+)  hours  
Pregnant  women   8(+)  hours  
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   6  
 
  

 
Here  is  a  graph  illustrating  the  bad  impacts  of  sleep  deprivation  on  our  health.  
 

 
 
 
From  the  graph,  we  could  see  that  sleep  deprivation  is  responsible  for  quite  a  number  
of  health  problems.  
 
We  are  going  to  investigate  the  some  of  the  problems  above.  
 
A) Obesity  
B) Weaker  immunity  
C) Memory  lapses  and  loses  
D) Depression  
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   7  
 
  

 
 
A) Obesity  
 
Prolonged,  complete  sleep  deprivation  increases  both  food  intake  and  energy  
expenditure,  however  a  hormone  imbalance  is  observed,  leading  to  weight  gain  and  
ultimately  death.  

Several  large  studies  using  nationally  representative  samples  suggest  that  the  
obesity  problem  in  the  United  States  might  have  as  one  of  its  causes  a  corresponding  
decrease  in  the  average  number  of  hours  that  people  are  sleeping.  The  findings  
suggest  that  this  might  be  happening  because  sleep  deprivation  could  be  disrupting  
hormones  that  regulate  glucose  metabolism  and  appetite.  

The  association  between  sleep  deprivation  and  obesity  appears  to  be  
strongest  in  young  and  middle-­‐age  adults.  Other  scientists  hold  that  the  physical  
discomfort  of  obesity  and  related  problems,  such  as  sleep  apnea,  reduce  an  
individual's  chances  of  getting  a  good  night's  
sleep  

   
 
A   comparison   of   a   mouse   resulting   in   obesity   (left)  
and  a  normal  mouse  (right)  
 
 
 
B) Weaker  Immunity  
 
Sleep  deprivation  affects  the  immune  system.  In  a  study  by  Zager  et  al.  in  2007,  
rats  were  deprived  of  sleep  for  24  hours.  When  compared  with  a  control  group,  the  
sleep-­‐deprived  rats'  blood  tests  indicated  a  20%  decrease  in  white  blood  cell  count,  a  
significant  change  in  the  immune  system.  It  is  now  possible  to  state  that  "sleep  loss  
impairs  immune  function  and  immune  challenge  alters  sleep,"  and  it  has  been  
suggested  that  mammalian  species  which  invest  in  longer  sleep  times  are  investing  in  
the  immune  system,  as  species  with  the  longer  sleep  times  have  higher  white  blood  
cell  counts  
 
Sleep  serves  to  ‘restore’  what  is  lost  in  the  body  while  we  are  awake.  When  
we  sleep,  different  kinds  of  anabolic  hormones  (growth  hormones)  release,  protein  
synthesis  carries  on  and  is  particularly  active.  These  procedures  facilitate  our  muscle  
growth  and  tissue  repair  which  help  us  to  restore  and  recover.    
 
 

Sleeping  Matters   8  
 
  

C) Memory  lapses  and  loss  

 
Scientists  have  shown  numerous  ways  in  which  sleep  is  related  to  memory.  In  a  
study  conducted  by  Turner,  Drummond,  Salamat,  and  Brown,  working  memory  was  
shown  to  be  affected  by  sleep  deprivation.  Working  memory  is  important  because  it  
keeps  information  active  for  further  processing  and  supports  higher-­‐level  cognitive  
functions  such  as  decision  making,  reasoning,  and  episodic  memory.  The  study  
allowed  18  women  and  22  men  to  sleep  only  26  minutes  per  night  over  a  four-­‐day  
period.  Subjects  were  given  initial  cognitive  tests  while  well-­‐rested,  and  then  were  
tested  again  twice  a  day  during  the  four  days  of  sleep  deprivation.  On  the  final  test,  
the  average  working  memory  span  of  the  sleep-­‐deprived  group  had  dropped  by  38%  
in  comparison  to  the  control  group.  
 
Momories  seems  to  be  affected  by  stages  of  sleep  such  as  REM.  During  sleep,  
memories  and  knowledge  are  solidified  and  organized.  No  external  information  is  
presented  to  dendrites*,  the  neurotransmitters.  These  dendrites  are  responsible  for  
presenting  and  transmitting  messages.  When  we  sleep,  these  nerve  cells  can  be  
reorganized  into  neuronal  connections,  improving  and  refreshing  our  memory  and  
learning  ability.  
 

 *  A  dendrite  
 
   
 
D) Depression  
 
Recent  studies  show  sleep  deprivation  has  some  potential  in  the  treatment  of  
depression.  60%  of  patients,  when  sleep-­‐deprived,  show  immediate  recovery,  with  
most  relapsing  the  following  night.  The  incidence  of  relapse  can  be  decreased  by  
combining  sleep  deprivation  with  medication.  Incidentally,  many  tricyclic  
antidepressants  happen  to  suppress  REM  sleep,  providing  additional  evidence  for  a  
link  between  mood  and  sleep.  
Due  to  physical  overexertion,  sleep  deprivation  will  cause  impairment  of  ability.  Such  
impairment  of  ability,  if  not  improved  promptly,  stress  will  be  accumulated  to  a  
higher  level,  and  thus  causing  anxiety  and  depression.  
 
   

Sleeping  Matters   9  
 
  

 
5.  Methods  to  grasp  more  time  to  sleep  
 
 
1. To  have  a  regular  lifestyle  
 
  Young  people  in  Hong  Kong  often  have  an  irregular  lifestyle.  For  example,  they  
stay  till  2  or  3  at  night,  chatting  with  friends  or  surfing  the  net,  and  the  next  day  they  
have  to  get  up  at  6.  Moreover,  at  weekends,  they  will  most  likely  spend  the  whole  
night  and  sleep  at  the  very  late  hours.  As  a  result,  they  always  suffer  from  a  lack  of  
sufficient  sleeping  and  cannot  concentrate  in  school  next  Monday.    
 
  To  solve  this  problem,  a  more  regular  lifestyle  should  be  formed  among  these  
Hong  Kong  teenagers.  For  example,  they  should  sleep  before  12  every  day  to  ensure  
they  can  have  a  sleep  of  at  least  7  to  8  hours.  At  the  very  first,  they  may  not  get  used  
to  this  sleeping  pattern  and  can’t  get  into  sleep  easily.  Yet,  with  the  everyday  practice  
of  this  sleeping  pattern,  it  is  healthier  and  more  beneficial  to  the  teenagers  as  they  
can  be  more  attentive  at  school.  Through  this  regular  lifestyle,  teenagers  are  
guaranteed  to  have  enough  sleep  every  day.  In  addition,  it  is  wiser  not  to  sleep  till  
afternoon  during  weekends.  Sleeping  till  late  hours  can  most  probably  cause  
sleeplessness  in  the  following  night,  provoking  a  lack  of  sufficient  and  healthy  
sleeping.  Then,  students  would  easily  fall  asleep  in  school  and  cannot  concentrate.  
Therefore,  it  is  highly  advised  to  attain  a  regular  balance  of  sleeping,  especially  to  
sleep  early  at  nights  and  wake  up  early  in  non-­‐school  days.  
 
2. To  have  a  better  management  of  work  
 
  Students  in  Hong  Kong  always  point  out  that  the  heavy  workloads  they  are  
facing  often  cause  them  to  have  not  enough  time  to  sleep.  They  think  that  the  
homework  from  school  or  other  tutors  cause  them  to  spare  some  time  from  sleeping.  
Also,  studying  for  constant  tests  and  examinations  also  cause  them  to  have  a  lack  of  
sufficient  sleep.  
 
  To  overcome  this  problem,  it  is  highly  advised  that  a  clear  work  schedule  
should  be  formulated.  In  other  words,  work  should  be  divided  to  many  parts.  
Everyday’s  work  should  be  finished  within  the  same  day.  As  a  result,  we  need  not  to  
face  the  heavy  and  accumulated  workload  every  Sunday  night.  With  this  schedule,  it  
can  help  us  make  use  of  our  time  more  efficiently  and  earn  more  time  for  sleeping.  In  
addition,  they  may  have  to  sacrifice  some  time  for  leisure  if  they  cannot  attain  a  
balance  between  school  workload  and  sleeping.  For  example,  the  teenagers  can  
sacrifice  their  time  spent  on  shopping,  playing  sports,  etc.  Then,  they  can  make  good  
use  of  their  time  on  studying  and  enjoy  sufficient  sleeping.  
 

Sleeping  Matters   1
  0  
  

 
6.  Conclusion  and  reflections  
 
At  the  beginning  of  the  project,  we  figured  out  that  there  are  some  
misunderstandings  about  sleeping  among  our  classmates  and  friends.  Because  of  this,  
we  decided  to  explore  more  about  sleeping  matters  through  the  project.  
 
After  this  project,  we  really  have  a  thorough  understanding  about  sleeping.  
We  now  understand  the  fundamental  importance  of  having  sufficient  sleeping  of  8-­‐9  
hours  and  realize  the  potential  health  risks  as  a  result  of  inadequate  sleeping.  We  
understand  the  urgent  need  of  twisting  our  lifestyle  a  little  bit  so  we  developed  
measures  to  grasp  more  time  to  sleep.  
 
As  teenagers,  we  may  not  realize  how  our  health  is  threatened  by  the  lack  of  
sleeping  and  still  live  an  unhealthy  lifestyle.  Yet,  after  the  project,  we  are  enlightened  
that  it  is  our  body  to  bear  the  severe  consequences  of  the  lack  of  sleeping.  In  order  to  
maintain  our  body  fitness  and  to  prevent  any  serious  illness,  it  is  an  essence  for  us  to  
improve  our  lifestyle  by  allowing  more  hours  of  sleep.  
 
As  students,  we  may  face  heavy  pressure  from  academic  fields  and  very  often  
suffer  from  sleeplessness.  Normally,  we  would  opt  for  the  option  of  forgoing  our  
sleeping  time  to  finish  our  undone  assignments  or  to  have  revision.  But,  after  this  
project,  we  acquire  the  knowledge  that  there’s  no  reason  for  us  to  sacrifice  out  
precious  sleeping  time.  On  the  other  hand,  we  should  remind  ourselves  the  utmost  
importance  of  sleeping  and  manage  out  time  well  in  order  to  attain  a  balance  
between  sleeping  and  studying.  Only  by  doing  so  can  we  learn  efficiently  and  healthily.  
 
All  in  all,  we  really  think  that  this  project  is  very  rewarding  and  fruitful.  We  
learn  much  about  sleeping  and  can  really  benefit  ourselves.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

-­‐  The  END  -­‐  

Sleeping  Matters   1
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