My podgroup is choosing to explore the role of sleep on the overall health and well-being of individuals. This topic pertains to all of the broader themes of active health, including physical literacy, healthy and active living, social and community health, and mental well-being as outlined below:
Physical Literacy
Getting good quality sleep has been linked to enhancing one’s cognitive functioning and consequently overall motor memory. Children’s Hospital Colorado (2025), along with other reputable sources, continue to highlight how increased sleep corresponds with better reaction time, fast-decision making, and coordination and helps with greater overall muscle memory; skills that are integral in the development of one’s physical literacy. Having sufficient sleep allows for optimal skill development to occur and therefore makes it easier for one to participate, adapt, and learn new physical activities.
Healthy and Active Living
Sleep and physical activity are also closely linked. By giving the body and mind a chance to reset and recharge, it helps support the energy levels and motivation needed for one to engage with and successfully participate in physical activity and sports. Similarly, the more physically active someone is, the better quality sleep they are likely to have (Anawwar et al., 2023). As an athlete myself, I know this to be true as my best sleep comes after intense training sessions or games, and I struggle to sleep on days where I find myself being more sedentary. Sleep also works to help minimize one’s risk of injury by allowing the body to properly heal and recover after exercise, reducing another key component that has the potential to interfere with and hinder one’s ability to live a healthy and active lifestyle.
Social and Community Health
Sleep also has an impact on our social relationships and interactions within our community. The more well-rested someone is, the more likely they are to engage with and participate in community activities as well as have the capacity to build and maintain strong personal relationships. Those who lack sleep are often more irritable and lack the capacity and willingness to engage in social settings, which can not only interfere with their ability to form strong social bonds with others, but also maintain existing relationships with peers as well. Therefore, this makes it difficult to build a strong sense of community with people failing to get involved in the first place and the quality of social and community involvement tends to suffer.
Mental Well-Being
The relationship between sleep and mental well-being has been well researched. Studies show that sleep enhances one’s ability to learn, think, regulate emotions, and handle daily stresses. On the other hand, a lack of sleep has been linked to one’s susceptibility of developing various mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression according to numerous studies from Harvard Medical School (2024). The relationship between sleep and mental health is seen as a perpetual cycle. Less sleep contributes to increased stress levels, and increased stress levels causes less sleep leading to an overall decline in cognitive functioning.
Check out This Video on what Would Happen if We Didn’t Sleep! – It’s SCARY!
Connection to Health Competency Seminar
Sleep can have a serious impact on ones overall mental and phyical health directly afffecting ones capacity to live a healthy and active lifestyle. Despite expert opinions, and evidence supporting the negative effect that a lack of sleep can have, many of us our still falling short of the recommended amount. Especially as university students trying to balance our busy school, work, and social lives, many times we fail to prioritize sleep so that we are able to fit everything in. An article published by Harvard (2024) highlighted that 70 – 90% of college students get under 8 hours of sleep each night and over half of them are sleeping less than the recommended 7 hours a night. This was a concerning statistic and one that has certainly motivated me to see the value in presenting this topic to my peers for the health competency seminar.
Ideas for Creating an Engaging Seminar Presentation
- Incorporating Videos – break up speaking content
- Offer Opportunities for small group discussions
- Creating Polls/Surveys – chance for personal opinions
- Allow time for questions – peers can clarify info to enhance their understanding
- Kahoot quiz – test what they have learned and motivates peers to stay engaged
References
Alnawwar, M. A., Alraddadi, M. I., Algethmi, R. A., Salem, G. A., Salem, M. A., & Alharbi, A. A. (2023, August 16). The effect of physical activity on sleep quality and sleep disorder: A systematic review. Cureus. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10503965/
Sleep and teen athletes. Sleep for Student Athletes | Children’s Hospital Colorado. (2025). https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/sports-articles/sports-safety/sleep-student-athletes-performance/
Harvard Division of Continuued Education. (2024, December 17). Why you should make a good night’s sleep a priority. Harvard Summer School. https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/why-you-should-make-a-good-nights-sleep-a-priority/