Lying chairs provide comfortable afternoon naps for Chinese students

When the noon nap bell rings each day, Wang Yining and her classmates tip up their desks, recline their chairs, pull out their footrests and lie back for a nap.

"It's very comfortable, just like sleeping in a bed," said Wang, a student at a primary school in the Fengyi sub-district of Zheng'an County in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Fengyi is located in an urban-rural fringe area.

"Some of our students live far away from the school. It's not convenient for them to go home during the lunch break," said Yu Yong, the school's principal. The school purchased 700 reclining chairs in November 2023 to make noon naps more comfortable for students.

Sufficient sleep is of vital importance to the physical and mental health development of students. In recent years, schools and education authorities in Guizhou have ramped up efforts to create a comfortable environment for students to take naps during lunch breaks.

"My arms and waist would often be sore after napping on my desk, and my eyes would be a little swollen. Now I can lie down comfortably on the reclining chair, just like when I'm sleeping in my bed," said Wen Keya, who attends a middle school with more than 3,100 pupils in Liupanshui City, Guizhou Province.

Since 2022, students in Wen's school have been taking noon naps in their classrooms, but before the reclining chairs were provided, students could only bend over their desks for a nap.

However, frequently doing so increases the risk of ophthalmic and cervical spine diseases for teenagers. Cao Shiyan, deputy director of optometry at the Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, said that bending over the desk puts prolonged pressure on the eyes, which can lead to nearsightedness, glaucoma, and even blindness.

"As our desks and chairs needed to be replaced in 2023, we decided to apply for reclining chairs so that our students could rest better," said Lyu Junchen, the middle school's principal.

The school's application was sent to the education bureau of Liupanshui City, and a 1.69-million-yuan (about 238,000 U.S. dollars) grant for 3,200 reclining chairs was quickly approved. Once the chairs were installed in November 2023, all students at the middle school were able to settle down for quality naps during their breaks.

Although reclining chairs are much more expensive than ordinary ones, Lyu said the investment has been worthwhile as students are now able to rest comfortably and their health has improved.

This understanding is shared by educators and officials in many parts of China, and schools across the country are applying for different facilities to help their students make the most of their lunch breaks.

In 2023, the government of Jiande City in east China's Zhejiang Province invested some 6 million yuan to establish and modify over 100 facilities so that its 34,000 primary and secondary school students could lie down during their lunch breaks.

East China's Jiangxi Province has also initiated pilot programs to promote reclining chairs, supporting schools to provide reclining chairs, mattresses and other items for students.

In Zhengzhou City, central China's Henan Province, an elementary school has transformed its empty classrooms into nap rooms, providing sheets, quilts and pillows so that students can nap more comfortably.

Lyu Junchen and his colleagues say that napping is an effective supplement for sufficient sleep among primary and secondary school students, and that it helps them maintain good health and improves their stamina for learning.

Despite issues with funding and available rooms, the government will devise different measures based on experience so that more students can benefit from proper naps at noon, said Zhang Weidong, deputy head of the Zheng'an County education bureau.

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows students taking noon naps at a classroom of a primary school in Fengyi sub-district of Zheng'an County in Zunyi City, southwest China's Guizhou Province,

This photo taken with a mobile phone shows students taking noon naps at a classroom of a middle school in Liupanshui City, southwest China's Guizhou Province. 