A teenager sleeps around 6.9 hours a day on average in Taiwan, notably less than the standard eight hours, the latest survey done by the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF) said on Monday.

About 78 percent of students at middle schools and vocational schools in Taiwan sleep less than eight hours, while the proportion reached 88.9 percent among high school and vocational school students, the survey report said.

The report said that 23.7 percent of high school and vocational school students sleep less than six hours.

According to the survey, during the last time they stayed up late, 33.6 percent of the respondents did homework, and 22.6 percent entertained themselves with mobile phones, computers, and TV, while 21 percent suffered from insomnia.

To cope with fatigue caused by sleep deficits, the survey found that many teenagers turned to drinks containing caffeine. About 33.9 percent of the respondents drank coffee when they felt tired, and 21.5 percent took energy drinks.

About 68.6 percent of the respondents drank coffee or energy drinks over the month before they participated in the survey, and around 35 percent of the respondents drank more than one cup of coffee or one bottle of energy drink a week.

The survey found that sleep deficit has become a prevailing health problem among teenagers, regardless of age group and gender, said CWLF Executive Secretary Huang Yun-Hsuan.

Huang called for more attention and resources to stop teenagers from drinking too many beverages containing caffeine and sugar, and overusing IT devices before bedtime as well as to help them develop healthy sleep habits.

The CWLF also called on the education authorities to review the curriculum and adjust school times so that teenagers can enjoy longer sleep and more free time.

The survey was conducted by the CWLF from Sept. 16 to Oct. 31, 2019, and 1,536 middle school and vocational school students responded to the questionnaire.