Why Sleeping In On School Days May Be Good for Teen Health

California teenagers can snooze a little later this year, thanks to a newly implemented law that says most high schools and middle schools cannot start before 8:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., respectively. That law—the first in the country to set statewide mandates for school start times—isn’t only big for California students, but also for public-health experts fighting against what the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has called an “epidemic” of teen sleep deprivation. Both the AAP and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have long opposed early-morning class times and advocated for middle and high school bell times no earlier than 8:30 a.m. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Delayed school start times are an attempt to help teens get more sleep, which research shows is a big problem in the U.S. Only about 30% of high school students get their recommended eight hours of sleep on school nights, according to CDC data. Studies suggest sleep deprivation can put teenagers and adolescents at increased risk for obesity, substance use, depression, and poor academic performance, among other issues. Research has long shown that circadian rhythms—light-mediated internal cues that help regulate sleep—change throughout the lifecycle. That’s, in part, why adults may find themselves naturally rising earlier as they age. Teenagers’ body clocks, meanwhile, are best synced to bedtimes around 11 p.m. or midnight and wake times...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Sleep Source Type: news