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All night long

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Michelle Chan

Insomnia does not only affect adults - a study showed that Hong Kong adolescents suffer from poor sleep, too.

People who suffer from insomnia have difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.

Professor Chung Ka-fai of the department of psychiatry at University of Hong Kong recently looked at the sleeping patterns of 1,629 adolescents aged between 12 and 19.

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Results showed that stress was the most significant factor contributing to sleeping problems.

Students who performed poorly academically reported that they fell asleep later and slept less on school nights than those with better grades.

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According to Professor Chung, there are five factors which affect sleep among adolescents: the time they go to bed; the amount of pressure they are under; whether they drink alcohol; their school year; and their age.

'The number of hours of sleep is not the most important factor - it's the quality that counts. A person suffering from insomnia might lie in bed for more than 30 minutes and still not fall asleep, or they

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