Forget milky drinks, hot water bottles or curling up with a good book—the real secret to a good night’s sleep may be where you s

admin2016-10-18  15

问题     Forget milky drinks, hot water bottles or curling up with a good book—the real secret to a good night’s sleep may be where you sit at work. New research shows office staff stuck in windowless rooms—or with little exposure to daylight—get on average 46 fewer minutes of sleep a night. Those who sit near a window were also found to have less broken sleep and a better quality of life than employees deprived of daylight.
    The findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, suggest the working environment may be crucial to setting the body’s own internal clock.
    Researchers say better designed offices could boost the physical and mental health of workers. One in three Britons suffers from poor sleep, with stress, computers and taking work home often blamed for the lack of quality slumber. However, the cost of all those sleepless nights is more than just bad moods and a lack of focus. Regular poor sleep raises the risk of serious medical conditions like obesity, heart and diabetes—and can even shorten life expectancy.
    Adequate exposure to natural daylight is known to be crucial for governing the body’s circadian rhythm—the built-in clock which dictates our sleeping and waking patterns.
    Researchers from the University of Illinois, Northwestern University in Chicago and the Hwa-Hsia Institute of Technology in Taiwan, teamed up to investigate the role of workplace windows in aiding sleep. They recruited 49 office employees, just over half of whom spent the day in mostly windowless environments, while the rest enjoyed frequent exposure to daylight through windows. Each one was quizzed on sleeping patterns, physical activity and general lifestyle. Some of the volunteers also wore hi-tech watches round-the-clock for a fortnight to measure their light exposure, levels of physical activity and sleep/wake times. The results showed those with the most work-time light exposure snoozed an average of 46 minutes more per night than their light-deprived colleagues. They also scored better on a sleep quality scale and reported fewer night-time disturbances-and were more likely to exercise, having got a good night’s sleep.
    In a report on their findings they said: Workers in offices with windows not only had significantly more light exposure during work hours but also slept an average of 46 minutes more per night during the week than those without(access to)windows. Office workers with more light exposure at the work place also tended to have better sleep quality, more physical activity and a better quality of life. We suggest that architectural design of office environments should place more emphasis on sufficient daylight exposure for workers in order to promote health and well-being.
    The study backs up earlier research suggesting that nurses are less likely to face burnout from work-related stress and more likely to achieve job satisfaction if they have exposure to at least three hours of daylight a day. Sleep expert Dr. Neil Stanley said the body needs exposure to daylight to keeps its sleeping patterns on track. "Light is essentially the thing that tells our bodies to be awake and dark tells them to go to sleep. "
    The problem with office lighting is that it is not made up of "blue" light, which is the wavelength of light you get from the sun and which controls your body clock. "So you could have a very well lit office but it does not have the same effect because it’s artificial and does not contain blue light. "
Workers working in better designed offices are more likely to______.

选项 A、stay healthy physically and mentally
B、lack quality slumber
C、have bad moods and lack focus
D、suffer from obesity, heart and diabetes

答案A

解析 事实细节题。第三段首句明确指出,研究人员称设计优良的办公室有助于提高员工的身体和心理健康,A)项与文意符合,故选项A)正确。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/bkmFFFFM
0

最新回复(0)