BEIJING: China’s night owls are staying up even later at night.

A survey has shown that as of February, the average bedtime for Chinese people is 00:18 am, 17 minutes later than last year.

About 80 per cent of college students go to bed after midnight, one in four falls asleep after 2 am, and about one in three wakes up after 9 am, according to the survey released by the Chinese Sleep Research Society ahead of World Sleep Day, which fell on Friday.

Based on data collected from the wearable devices of over 150,000 people, the survey also found that mobile phones have become an important factor affecting college students’ sleep, showing that the longer they use smartphones, the later they go to bed.

“Sleep, nutrition and exercise are recognised as the three pillars of a healthy life, with sleep being the cornerstone of these pillars. Adequate and consistent sleep is crucial,” said Huang Zhili, president of the society and a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai.

However, sleep disorders are becoming more prevalent and affecting younger people, he added.

On Chinese social media platforms, young people are also sharing their experiences of having “revenge bedtime procrastination”, where, driven by tight daytime schedules, they sacrifice sleep despite being very tired, in order to regain a sense of control over their time.

For example, a netizen from Zhejiang province on Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, posted her daily routine of “lying on my bed and mechanically scrolling through short video apps and reading novels with satisfying plots and powerful protagonists at midnight”.

“All of this is fragmented information that doesn’t require much thinking,” she wrote.

Another netizen, from the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, echoed her by commenting that after she got a job, she began to stay up late playing on her phone as a form of retaliation.

“I would play on my phone until midnight every day. Just thinking about having to get up for work the next day makes me reluctant to go to sleep, even though I have to get up at 7 am,” the Guangxi netizen added.

In addition to the young night owls, the survey indicates that most of the participants have experienced sleep issues, with 65 per cent reporting one to two episodes per week.

The symptoms include waking up during the night or early, insomnia, night-time bathroom visits and snoring.

Wang Zan, chief physician of neurology from the First Bethune Hospital of Jilin University, emphasised that healthy sleep is multidimensional.

“It’s not just about long duration, but also involves efficiency, timing, regularity and satisfaction,” she said.

To improve the quality of sleep, she suggested ensuring the room is cool and dark, listening to some white noise, and having a consistent bedtime and wake time.

Moreover, the survey showed that moderate exercise can lead to better sleep, as those who exercise regularly have a lower risk of insomnia compared to those who exercise infrequently.

Paris 2024 Olympics gold medallist Li Yuehong said that aerobic exercises help him relieve stress and fall asleep before major competitions.

“I would engage in exercises such as jogging, and sweat slightly before sleep, so that I can gradually relax myself and have a good sleep,” he added.