Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

Today, there are countless distractions keeping us up at night and stopping us from having a good night's sleep. Yet, sleep is one of the three pillars of a healthy lifestyle (nutrition and exercise are the other two), and in recent years, there has been much interest in how we can sleep better. But are personal measures enough to improve sleep? This, given he erosion of work-life boundaries and the overwhelming amount of digital distractions today.

In Part 2, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo continues the conversation on sleep with Professor Michael Chee, the director of the Centre for Sleep and Cognition at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine at the National University of Singapore. Prof Chee has spent close to two decades studying sleep and its impact on cognition and behaviour.  

Highlights (click/tap above):

00:49 Balancing structural measures with personal commitment to improve sleep

04:10 Benefits of starting school later in Singapore; effects of sleep for students

07:38 Consequence of chronic short sleep for adults and the elderly

09:12 Tips for effective short naps; should you avoid exercise at night?

10:23 Why alcohol at night really affects sleep quality; debate on caffeinated drinks

Produced by: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis and Hadyu Rahim

Edited by: Eden Soh

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