Sleep is becoming a problem for teenagers in America.
A recent study published online in Pediatrics has reportedly found that after the age of 16, the majority of American teens are not meeting the recommended guidelines of sleep, according to study author Katherine Keyes, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
Researchers from Columbia University analyzed sleep data from a national survey of more than 270,000 teens from 1991 to 2012 for the recent study, according to WebMD. Compared to the 72 percent of 15-year-olds that reported getting seven or more hours of sleep a night in 1991, by 2012, the number had reportedly dropped to 63 percent of teenagers getting the necessary amount of sleep.
“Declines in self-reported adolescent sleep across the last 20 years are concerning and suggest that there is potentially a significant public health concern that warrants health education and literacy approaches,” explained Keyes.
The National Sleep Foundation reportedly recommends at least 8 hours of sleep for teenagers to obtain optimal productivity during the day, according to the publication SMN Weekly.
Lack of sleep for teenagers could reportedly result in impaired reasoning, mood swing problems, mental health problems, weight problems and substance abuse.
The results of the study reportedly showed that there were gender differences as well as socioeconomic differences in sleep. Girls are reportedly less likely to get an adequate amount of sleep compared to boys while teenagers whose parents had less education often lacked sleep as well.
Solutions for the lack of sleep amongst teenagers include minimizing the use of electronic devices before bed time, limiting caffeine and possibly even setting up a bedtime routine with a parent.
There have also reportedly been suggestions that starting school an hour later would help as teenagers naturally go to sleep later and get up later due to their delayed release of melatonin, according to Marcel Deray, a pediatric neurologist and director of sleep disorders center at Miami Children’s Hospital.
However, complications have delayed this suggestion from going into effect.
“The idea to delay school start times is still fairly new, and our poll shows that parents seem conflicted about whether or not it’s the right move. While many recognize the benefits of more sleep for their kids, there are real-life concerns about how the change may interfere with after-school activities, logistics and school budgets,” stated poll director Dr. Matthew Davis in a university news release.
He continued, “As more schools in the country consider this change, we recommend parents get involved with these discussions.”