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The Cause Of Sleep Deprivation In College Students

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An adequate amount of sleep is essential for human living. Just like water and food, humans must sleep in order to have full cognitive function throughout the day (NIH, 2017. Sleep deprivation occurs when a person has the lack of sufficient amount of sleep (NIH, 2017). Sleep deprivation can occur in anyone, however, college students and teens are more likely to be deprived (NIH, 2017; University of Georgia, n.d). According to Dr.Olsen from the Mayo Clinic, seven to eight hours is a good amount of sleep per night; however, only 20% of American adolescents are sleeping the recommended amount (Winsler, Dautsch, Vorona, Payne, & Szklo-Coxe, 2014). High school students in Fairfax County report sleeping 6 hours and 30 minutes per night on average and middle school students sleep 7 hours and 30 minutes on average (Winsler et al., 2014). In Fairfax County, 3.4 % of students get the recommended 9 hours of sleep (Winsler et al., 2014). There are various causes to sleep deprivation in college students. One cause of lack of adequate sleep is poor sleep hygiene (Hershner, 2014). Sleep hygiene is when a person has a consistent schedule of sleeping and waking up, sleeping in a quiet, dark environment, refrain from drinking caffeine post-lunch, and the use of technology prior to going to bed (Hershner, 2014). Caffeine can effect a person 5.5-7.5 hours after ingestion, which can potentially cause impairment in a person’s sleep if drank after lunch time (Hershner, 2014). Energy drinks is

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