Sleep has SA teens smiling

14 September 2015 - 10:16 By NIVASHNI NAIR

South African teenagers wake up on the right side of the bed every day, according to the latest data. Swedish sleep app developers used Sleep Cycle, an app that reads a smartphone's accelerometer to identify sleep phases by tracking movement.When the developers crunched the numbers they found that South African teens on average slept seven hours and 21 minutes a night and so probably start the day in a good mood.Most of them woke up at about 6.27am and went to bed at 10.56pm. The data, from more than 50800 users in 50 countries, showed that Austrian teens woke up the happiest - and that the Japanese are not "morning people".The data, obtained from users aged 14 to 18, showed that Australian teenagers went to bed earliest and those in The Netherlands slept the most."These must be the teens whose parents support good sleep hygiene and monitor social media," said Durban clinical psychologist Michelle Baker.She said the data were "quite surprising"...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.