Latest news with #NightOwls
Economic Times
03-07-2025
- Health
- Economic Times
Want to burn more calories? New study reveals surprising link between sleep time and daily activity
Researchers have found a strong link between earlier bedtimes and increased physical activity, using data from nearly 20,000 participants. Even a two-hour shift toward earlier sleep resulted in noticeable fitness benefits. The findings suggest health campaigns should integrate sleep timing with exercise promotion to improve public health and encourage more active lifestyles. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that people who go to bed earlier tend to be significantly more active the next day. (Image:iStock) Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Night Owls vs. Early Birds: Who's More Active? The Social Jetlag Dilemma Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Can You Change Your Sleep Habits? In the world of wellness , we often separate sleep and exercise into different compartments. But what if your bedtime was actually the secret driver of your daily physical activity ? A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests just that—going to bed earlier could be the simplest way to get more to a report from Health Day, the research, led by scientists from Monash University in Australia, tracked nearly 20,000 individuals over a year using wearable sleep-and-activity trackers. The average bedtime hovered around 11 p.m., but those who tucked in by 9 p.m. consistently logged about 30 more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity the following day than those who stayed up until 1 small shifts mattered. Going to bed at 9 p.m. instead of 11 p.m. translated into nearly 15 extra minutes of physical activity, highlighting how tightly sleep timing is linked to movement the next day.'Sleep and physical activity are both critical to health, but until now we didn't fully grasp how intricately connected they are in everyday life,' said Dr. Elise Facer-Childs, senior research fellow at Monash University's School of Psychological Sciences, in the university's press data didn't just stop at bedtime. Researchers also noted that standard 9-to-5 work routines may unintentionally work against our natural sleep rhythms—especially for those who are biologically inclined to stay up late. This mismatch, often referred to as 'social jetlag,' can lead to poorer sleep quality, daytime fatigue, and ultimately less motivation to exercise.'Standard 9-to-5 routines can clash with the natural sleep preferences of evening types,' said lead researcher Josh Leota. 'This leads to poorer sleep quality and increased daytime sleepiness—which can all reduce motivation and opportunity for physical activity the next day.'The findings were validated with additional Fitbit data from another cohort of nearly 6,000 participants, strengthening the argument that sleep timing isn't just a fringe factor in your fitness—it may be central to of the most promising insights from the study is that the cycle isn't fixed. Participants who shifted to earlier bedtimes—while maintaining the same total sleep duration—were the ones who recorded the highest levels of activity the following other words, you don't need more sleep, just smarter sleep.'Rather than just promoting sleep and physical activity independently, health campaigns could encourage earlier bedtimes to naturally foster more active lifestyles,' Leota explained, suggesting a more integrated approach to public health you're trying to become more consistent with your workouts or just want to boost your daily activity, it might be time to re-evaluate what time you're hitting the sack. As this study shows, making peace with your pillow a little earlier could be the most underrated fitness strategy out the next time you're tempted to binge another episode or scroll through social media past midnight, remember—your morning workout might thank you for calling it a night.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New helpline to tackle youth mental health crisis
A round-the-clock mental health line has been launched in Barnsley to support young people struggling with their mental health According to a Barnsley Council health and wellbeing report, the town has the highest number of emergency admissions for self-harm among children and young people in Yorkshire and the Humber. In the year to March 2023, there were 140 self-harm hospital admissions for people aged 10 to 24 - notably higher than the national average. In response anew crisis telephone service is being rolled out across the borough to provide immediate support for anyone in distress. The Local Democracy Reporting Service said the new service, called Night Owls, launched in April to offer support outside of school and work hours and can be accessed through 111. The health and wellbeing report added: "These services will be closely analysed for impact, whilst alongside this, a full review of all children and young people's mental and emotional health services is taking place to ensure all resources are being used effectively and identify opportunities for improvement." If you need mental health support the following links provide information about how to get help: BBC Action Line information and support NHS mental health and support for children and young people, external Young Minds support pages Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North Barnsley Council Local Democracy Reporting Service Teen mental health: When to seek help and what parents can do Huge leap in children in mental health crisis
RTÉ News
22-04-2025
- Science
- RTÉ News
Ecolution: Lights out and embrace the dark in Mayo!
Happy Earth Day! Since 1970, 22 April has been a date to celebrate the wonders of Mother Nature, while also recognising the fragility of our planet and its ecosystems. From rainforests to bogs, rivers to coral reefs we are looking at what is happening. That's why we are launching a new series of RTÉ's Climate Podcast for young people - Ecolution!! Coincidentally this week is International Dark Sky Week, so we decided to go two for the price of one. Listen to Ecolution on RTÉ, Apple or Spotify! Ecolution is the podcast that talks about the climate crisis, our environment and all of the people, young and old, who are trying to be the change that will make our future sustainable. For our first show back we wanted to turn out the lights and look up. Wild Nephin National Park in County Mayo is located in a stunning part of the country. And one that, due to its wild makeup, offers a natural habitat for all kinds of flora and fauna. It has been designated as an official Dark Sky Park. On the show Back in late January this year Ecolution arrived at the Visitor Centre one evening to find it packed with local scout and girl guide groups, all gathered to take a safely managed leap into darkness. And one group of young people who totally get the importance of embracing the dark is The night owls; a group of boys and girls from Sligo who, along with their forest leader Martina began a project to celebrate things that go bump, bark and squeak in the dark. Especially when we reduce levels of light pollution . Light pollution is the artificial light that we use to illuminate our homes, our gardens, our towns and roads. And of course we can't turn them all off. But by being more mindful of the kinds of light we use and when we turn them off, we can really help ourselves and nature return to a more balanced way of living, day and night. And it's something the night owls shared with us and the large group of kids and adults trekking along the path as the sun went down back in January. Seeing the stars spread out above us at Wild Nephin was an incredible experience and one I'd hope everyone could share. Very sadly, only a couple of weeks ago part of the walkway we hiked along was set on fire, causing really extensive damage to it and the habitat it wound through. It was a reminder of how humans can affect our environment in so many ways, of how fragile these ecosystems are and why it's so important we safeguard them. For the day and also for the night. The path will be mended and after time the landscape around will recover. But it is timely that one of the Night Owls, Lorcan, wanted to speak about the dangers of fire when camping or out in nature. Something New! We've been away for longer than intended but we're returning bigger and better than ever. Presented once again by Evie Kenny, we're back with a weekly Audio Podcast and we are on YouTube too! There we'll discuss the issues raised in the podcast with a panel of young people from the ISSN, An Taisce Climate Ambassadors and EcoUnesco - so they really know their stuff. Thank You! Sinead Gaughan , Georgia McMillan, Molly O'Grady, our Dark Sky guides at Wild Nephin National Park from the NPWS. They worked so hard to gather this amazing bunch of kids and adults to share in celebrating the night sky, the darkness and the space it offers nature. We wish them so much luck in getting the place back on track so as more people can enjoy it just as we did.
