|
 “The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teens
between 13 and 18 years of age should sleep 8 to 10 hours per night
on a regular basis to promote optimal health,” lead author of the
new AASM position statement Dr. Nathaniel Watson told Reuters Health
in an email.
“Biology and school start times may share the blame for teen sleep
loss. A natural shift in the timing of the body’s internal
‘circadian’ clock occurs during puberty, and as a result, most teens
have a biological preference for a late-night bedtime,” said Watson,
a sleep specialist at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Studies show that short sleep in adolescents is associated with poor
school performance, obesity, metabolic dysfunction and heart
disease, increased depressive symptoms, suicidal ideation,
risk-taking behaviors and athletic injuries, Watson and his
coauthors write in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
Students also have a higher risk of being involved in a car accident
when they’re sleep deprived, they note. About 35 percent of teen
deaths are due to car accidents.
Previous studies on delayed school start times have shown benefits
including longer sleep times, less daytime sleepiness, more
participation in school and fewer absences and late arrivals, the
researchers add. Later school starts have also been associated with
less depression and anxiety.
Reaction times are improved and delaying school times by one hour
could potentially reduce car crashes by approximately 16 percent,
the authors write.
Watson said kids could also take steps to improve their sleep such
as identifying a consistent bedtime that allows them to get at least
eight hours of sleep and making a goal to be in bed with the lights
out by bedtime each night.
Students should set bedtime alarms to remind them when it is time to
get ready for bed, power down all electronic devices at least 30
minutes before bedtime and put their cell phones away at night,
Watson said.
[to top of second column] |
“If parents notice their child is having extreme difficulty waking
up on time for school, or experiencing significant daytime
sleepiness, they should consider scheduling a consultation with the
adolescent’s primary care provider or a sleep medicine specialist to
evaluate for a sleep disorder, regardless of the student’s school
start time,” he said.
"The nation's leading organization for sleep professionals has added
its voice to that of other health advocacy groups such as the AMA,
AAP, AACAP, CDC and American Psychological Association in support of
healthy school start times for middle and high school students,” Dr.
Judith Owens told Reuters Health in an email.
Owens, who is the director of the Center for Pediatric Sleep
Disorders at Boston Children's Hospital, wasn’t involved in the AASM
position statement but she was lead author of a similar policy
statement published by the American Academy of Pediatrics in 2014
(http://bit.ly/1oxSndV).
The new AASM position statement urges schools, school boards,
parents and policy makers to raise awareness and promote later start
times.
“Parents and local school boards can work together to implement high
school start times that allow teens to get the healthy sleep they
need to meet their full potential,” Watson said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2pjz14f Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine,
online April 14, 2017.
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
