Youngsters losing sleep over study

Almost 80 percent of elementary and middle school students are suffering from a lack of sleep due to excessive study pressure, experts say.

Beijing youngsters snooze for an average of just seven hours and 37 minutes a day, far short of the nine hours needed to prevent sleep depravation, according to the China Youth and Children Research Center.

A survey of 5,000 students aged 6 to 15 across 10 provinces last year found the number of children not napping enough is 30 percent higher than it was six years ago.