It never ceases to amaze me how often students will put their health in jeopardy each semester in an attempt to improve their academic performance. With pressure from professors, families and peers to perform well, college quickly turns the “best years of your life” into the most health taxing.
The prevalence of students pulling “all-nighters” to catch up on procrastinated work is not uncommon. The University of Texas Learning Center reports that on average college students will pull an all-nighter twice a month, and get less sleep than needed 1 out of every 3 days.
Source: www.di-ve.com
But, let’s be real. Who needs sleep when we are blessed with coffee, energy drinks, and Adderall to keep us up all night, focused on schoolwork, and feeling good?
Pause.
What may seem like innocent and responsible behavior is actually having serious negative effects on your health.
Research from UCLA shows us that these caffeine and junk food-fueled all-nighter attempts at defeating procrastination are actually counterproductive. There is a correlation between the amount of time students traded sleep for studying and poor academic performance. Hmm…seems a little, how you say, counterintuitive?
Harvard Medical School states that the ability to learn and retain information is most certainly a short-term effect of sleep loss.
Along with poor academic performance the next day, not getting enough sleep each night poses some severe long-term health implications. Cases of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and early death are not uncommon among individuals who do not receive adequate and routine rest.
Juniata students,
I strongly urge you to be fully aware of the relation between the actions you take and the subsequent risks to your health. Ask yourself; do I have the potential to develop these long-term, lack of sleep related diseases?
Fifty years from now, what’s going to matter to you most? The A you received on that paper, rather than a B, or the disease you developed from not getting enough sleep and allowing that habit to persist after college? I know that seems like an extremely serious question. That’s because it is.
I strongly urge you to do your own research. Make informed decisions. Find the balance between good health and good grades. Create your own future…the way that you want it to be.
Source: mosladder.hubpages.com