UNIT 4 – HEALTH KICKS: Reading Text, page 57
NIGHT OWLS
For Brian, getting up for school is a nightmare. He wakes up feeling exhausted, which isn’t surprising
as he usually goes to bed after 1 am. His parents constantly tell him to go to bed earlier so he can get
more sleep. That advice is simple enough, but when the time comes, he’s just not tired. Does this sound
like it could be you? If so, then you might be a night owl. People may think you’re irresponsible or
lazy, but you’re not doing this because you want to, or because you have a sleep disorder. In fact, your
late bedtime may be coded into your DNA.
We all have an internal clock, or chronotype, which creates our preferred sleeping pattern.
A very small number of people on either end of the spectrum, who have either very early or 1very late
chronotypes, are sometimes called “night owls” or “early birds.” But even individuals who are just
slightly behind the average chronotype may wake up every morning feeling tired.
Why does this happen? For someone with an average chronotype, the brain produces melatonin, or the
sleep hormone, at around2 9.00 pm. By 10.30 pm, they feel tired and are ready for bed. After around
eight hours of sleep, their blood pressure rises and they wake up, feeling most alert at around 10.00 am.
But for night owls, these processes happen later in the day, preventing them from feeling tired when
most people go to bed. Scientists have discovered that the variation in people’s chronotypes is a
result of something called “clock genes”. These genes turn on and off throughout the day, telling your
body when to sleep and when to wake up.
You may think that because you go to sleep much later than your parents, you don’t share their clock
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genes. This difference, however, is most likely due to a different factor — age. If you have younger
siblings or grandparents, you may have noticed that sleep patterns are different at different ages.
This is so common amongst teens that, in some places, secondary schools have changed the
timetable for their students so that classes begin at a later hour, when teenagers are more focused.
However, despite the age factor, to a certain extent, chronotypes remain stable throughout a person’s
lifetime. It’s4 a bitter pill to swallow, but people with late chronotypes need to adjust to society’s
schedule. Unfortunately, many people with late chronotypes have a hard time meeting society’s
expectations.
So, what can you do if you are someone that struggles to get up in the morning? It’s important to take
your chronotype into account when you create your schedule.5 For example, if you can, make time to
study when you’re most alert, so you’ll do better at school. Proper planning will ensure that you
get the required amount of sleep which provides a number of health benefits and will help you be more
productive. And if you yourself are an early riser with a friend or family member like Brian, don’t be so
quick to assume that they’re lazy or doing it on purpose — they could just be night owls trying to
survive in an early bird’s world.
A. Another suggestion is to choose a job with hours that work for you, so you won’t upset your boss by
being late.
B. People who go to bed around 11.00 pm and get up around 7.00 am have an average chronotype.
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C. Consequently, they have trouble falling asleep at a “normal” time and find it difficult to wake up in
the morning.
D. We all need to be at school, work or other activities on time.
E. The phenomenon of night owls is nothing new.
F. For example, young children and older people tend to go to sleep and wake up early, while teenagers
more often go to sleep late and have difficulty getting up early.
