Teens Need More Sleep than They're Getting
A recent nationwide study by the National
Sleep Foundation (NSF) confirms and provides fresh insights into what many teachers and others
who work with teenagers already know: American teens don't get enough
sleep.
As a consequence, more than a quarter of high school students report falling asleep at school at least once a week; more than half report driving when they feel sleepy; and nearly a third of teens say they need two or more caffeinated beverages per day to stay awake.
What’s more, nine of 10 parents believe their teens are getting
enough sleep, revealing a huge awareness gap between teens and parents.
Adolescence brings changes in brain chemistry
Teenagers’ late-to-bed, sleep-until-noon habits may seem related
to stereotypical adolescent defiance. However, brain scientists tell
us that teen brain chemistry differs from the chemistry of both adults
and younger children. Teens start to secrete melatonin, a hormone that
helps to trigger drowsiness at the end of the day, up to two hours later
than younger children. This normal hormonal shift causes teens to feel
more alert later at night and to wake up later in the morning.
Combine this delay in chemical signals with teens’ obligations
to school, homework, paid work, as well as the attractions of TV, video
games, the Internet, and interaction with peers, and the result is a
serious sleep deficit for many teens.
The NSF's 2006 Sleep in America poll conducted last fall randomly
surveyed 1,600 households across the U.S. The poll, fashioned by experts
on adolescent sleep, asked questions of one family member between the
ages of 11 and 17 and one parent or guardian in the same household in
order to compare their responses.
Sleep study's key findings
- More than a quarter of high school students report that they fell asleep in school at least once a week in the past two weeks; 14 percent say they arrived late or missed school because they overslept.
- Just one in five adolescents gets an optimal nine hours of sleep on school nights; nearly one-half (45 percent) sleep less than eight hours on school nights.
- The average 6th-grader sleeps about of 8.4 hours on school nights, while a typical high school senior sleeps just 6.9 hours.
- Over the course of a week, high school seniors miss nearly 12 hours of needed sleep.
- More than half of adolescents report feeling too tired or sleepy during the day.
- More than half of adolescents say they know they get less sleep than they need to feel their best.
- Eighty percent of adolescents who get an optimal amount of sleep say they’re achieving As and Bs in school, while adolescents who get insufficient amounts of sleep are more likely than their peers to get lower grades.
- Among those adolescents who say they’re unhappy or tense most often, 73 percent feel they don’t get enough sleep at night and 59 percent stay they feel sleepy during the day.
- Nine out of 10 parents believe their teens get enough sleep most nights of the week.
Unhealthy behaviors
- Driving drowsy: More than half (51 percent) who drive say they’ve driven while drowsy during the past year.
- Frequently consuming caffeinated beverages and foods: 31 percent of those surveyed drink two or more caffeinated beverages a day.
- Napping: 38 percent of surveyed high school students took at least two naps per week in the two weeks preceding their poll interview.
- Giving up on exercise: 28 percent of adolescents say they felt too tired or sleepy to exercise.
- Sleeping late on weekends: Most adolescents are sleeping between 1.2 and 1.9 hours longer on non-school nights.
UNH Cooperative Extension has Family & Consumer Resources educators in each county http://extension.unh.edu/Counties/Counties.htm who offer a variety of parenting programs. If you have questions about parenting teenagers (or younger children), or if you’re interested in the local schedule of Extension parenting programs, contact the county office and ask for the parent educator.
by Thom Linehan, Family & Consumer Resources Educator, MerrimackCounty
For more information about teens and sleep
- Adolescent Sleep Needs and Patterns
Full report on teenage sleep habits from the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 nationwide survey.
- Signs and symptoms of sleep deprivation in teens
- Living with your teen: Adolescents and Sleep
- Later high school start times
Starting high school later in the day may be an effective way to apply knowledge of adolescent sleep needs. This report describes the experience in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which adjusted their high school start times to accommodate adolescent biology.
- Lack of sleep
Learn more about how lack of sleep may affect adolescents
