Is Your Teen Sleep Deprived?
High school teachers are all too familiar with the bleary eyes and giant yawns that often greet their lessons. But the responses might be less about teenage boredom and more about sleep deprivation, and the students' growing bodies themselves may be to blame.
As adolescents mature toward adulthood, nature seems to be preparing even their sleep cycles for the lifestyle change. Their bodies release the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin later in the evening than when the students were preteens, so they're not tired until later at night. Yet school bells still seem to ring at dawn.
Sleep Requirements
"Preteens can go to bed earlier, but for teens, the key lies in later school times, 8 to 8:30 in the morning," recommends Maninder Kalra, MD, a pediatric sleep specialist in the Sleep Disorders Center of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. "Teenagers need that extra hour of sleep in the morning."
But what if the family's school district maintains an early start to the high school day? Preteens still need about 10 hours of sleep a night, and teens, nine. Yet surveys are showing that teens on average are sleeping 7.4 hours – "objective evidence that they're not getting enough sleep," says Dr. Kalra.
Students themselves feel the deficit. In a recent study, as many as 70 percent of American teens said they wished they got more sleep.
Less Sleep, More Problems
The effects of sleep deprivation are often swift and dramatic: impaired alertness during the day and decreased cognitive ability, with the problems showing up "as soon as the next day," according to Dr. Kalra. "We also see increased risk-taking behavior and depressed mood. The impaired alertness and increased risk-taking have serious implications when teens are driving."
In new studies, sleep deprivation is also proving to create serious medical complications. Lack of sleep affects the hormones that regulate how the body converts food to energy and decreases glucose tolerance. Sleep-starved children are then at risk for being overweight and developing cardiovascular problems.
To help counter sleep deprivation, Dr. Kalra recommends that "parents establish good sleep hygiene, with consistent bed and wake-up times. They can promote exposure to bright light in the morning, and avoid bright lights at night. This promotes the tendency to fall asleep earlier in the evening.
"Students should avoid caffeine in the late afternoon and evening, as well as exercise, TV and video games right before bed."
When To Seek Help
In spite of all these efforts, some teens have trouble falling asleep, or feeling rested after sleep. But Dr. Kalra cautions against immediately reaching for an over-the-counter sleep aid: "That might mask the problem."
Instead, parents and children can seek help from their family doctor or a sleep specialist. "They will take a detailed sleep history, looking for mood disorders, psycho-social stressors or symptoms of medical problems, such as restless leg syndrome or sleep apnea."
Melatonin may be prescribed to help decrease the time it takes to fall asleep. A specialist might also set up a child's schedule of timed exposure to light, and work with chronotherapy – tapping into the body's natural biological rhythms – to shift sleep-time patterns. Occasionally, a sleeping pill will be recommended to help the teenager fall asleep.
"Once teens are evaluated, there are a variety of options to help them get the sleep they need," says Dr. Kalra.
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