缺觉的“吸血鬼一代”

看电视打游戏，上网玩儿不停？作业太多完不成？现在孩子们的睡眠时间真是越来越少了，这不仅影响了他们的身体和智力发育，还可能导致抑郁和肥胖。在英国，这些缺觉的孩子被叫做“吸血鬼一代”。

A broken night’s sleep is nothing new for any parent. What is unusual are the legions of older children now suffering from sleep problems well into their late teens — the ‘vampire generation’ as they’ve been dubbed.
睡不好觉对父母来说都不陌生。但现在有很多青少年也遇到了睡眠问题，这与以往很不一样，他们被称为“吸血鬼一代”。

In general, children between the ages of ten and 18 need around nine to ten hours’ sleep. But experts warn that, nowadays, seven is often the norm, with many getting far less.
通常来讲，10到18岁的孩子每天需要9到10个小时的睡眠。但专家提醒说，如今这么大的孩子只睡7个小时很常见，还有很多孩子甚至睡得更少。

And this lack of sleep is having a serious impact on children’s health — with insufficient sleep linked to everything from impeded brain development to heart problems, depression and obesity.
缺乏睡眠对孩子的健康有严重影响，睡眠不足与智力发育障碍、心脏问题、情绪抑郁和肥胖症都有关系。

Some teachers are now so concerned that they allow ‘nap’ times in classrooms so exhausted students can catch up.
一些教师现在对此非常担心，他们允许孩子们在课堂上打瞌睡，这样疲惫的孩子们才能精力恢复一些。

So, what can be done to help your child sleep better? Having a regular, calming bedtime routine, which includes shutting down all devices and turning down loud music and bright light is vital, says Dr Winwood.
那么如何才能帮助孩子睡得很好呢？温伍德博士告诉大家，要养成规律且让人平静的睡前仪式，包括关闭所有电子设备、调低音乐的音量、把灯光调暗，这些都很关键。

（中国日报网英语点津 yaning）