TUESDAY, March 28, 2006 (HealthDay News) -- An alarming number of adolescents are nodding off in class, driving while drowsy and falling asleep over their homework, all because they aren't getting enough zzzs, a new survey shows.
"Only 20 percent of children are getting optimal sleep, and nearly half are getting insufficient sleep," said Christopher Drake, a clinical psychologist with the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Center in Detroit and a member of the board of directors of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). "This is affecting all areas of their life."
"Clearly, there can be an impact on all areas of functioning," Drake continued. "Kids who are getting insufficient sleep are more likely to feel depressed, more likely to get poorer grades and be impaired while driving. This is a major, major serious area of concern."
The revelations come courtesy of the annual Sleep in America poll released Tuesday by the National Sleep Foundation. The poll is part of the NSF's ninth annual National Sleep Awareness Week campaign, held March 27 through April 2, 2006. The campaign coincides with the return to Daylight Saving Time on the first Sunday in April.
"It's a trend that we're beginning to recognize as real, though we have suspected it for a while," said Dr. Francisco Perez-Guerra, a professor of internal medicine at Texas A&M University's Health Science Center College of Medicine and director of their Scott & White Sleep Disorders Center in College Station.
"This is the first poll to look at it, so I think we are beginning to learn what is happening out there and what we can do," said Perez-Guerra, who is also a member of the NSF's board of directors.
The survey, which includes data on more than 1,600 caregivers and, separately, their adolescent children, also found:
Much of the problem lies not with teens but with society. Adolescents naturally feel more alert later at night and wake up later in the morning. More than half (54 percent) of high-school seniors go to bed at 11 p.m. or later. Yet those same adolescents have to wake up at around 6:30 in order to get to school.
"It is the natural tendency of adolescent to go to bed later because of their body clock," confirmed Perez-Guerra. "There is some bias."
But apart from asking schools to start later (which some states have done), what can be done?
"We need to tell parents to be alert and, just like they ask about drugs, they can ask about sleep," Perez-Guerra said. "They need to learn that an adolescent should be able to get out of bed without much prodding."
"There are a lot of things that parents can do to help teens get better sleep," Drake added. "One is to get rid of the computer, get rid of the Internet, get rid of the television. It's important to get those things out of the bedroom, as well as telling kids not to drink caffeine after 12 noon. It's also important to keep a regular schedule on weekdays and weekends, allowing for at least 9 hours in bed at night."
More information
For more on the poll and on sleep strategies, visit the National Sleep Foundation.