Most U.S. Schools Start Too Early for Kids to Get Enough Sleep: Study
Most U.S. Schools Start Too Early for Kids to Get Enough Sleep: Study
By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Five out of six middle and high schools in the United States start the day too early, which keeps students from getting the sleep they need, a new government report finds.
Middle and high schools should aim for a start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to help kids get enough sleep, according to a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year.
But a review of U.S. Department of Education data found that slightly less than 18 percent of public middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
The average school start time across the nation was 8:03 a.m., according to the report published in the Aug. 7 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Getting enough sleep is important for students' health, safety and academic performance," said lead author Anne Wheaton, an epidemiologist in the CDC's division of population health. "Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need."
Wheaton added that she suspects busing schedules are the leading factor in early school start times.
"For some reason, they chose to start the high school earliest, which really does fight against the biology of the high school students," she said. "They really can't get up early enough."
"It's been a couple of decades the research has been building up to support the AAP's recommendation," Wheaton added. "We're hoping in the coming years we'll see a trend going in the other direction, but it will take time."
Teenagers need to get at least eight hours of sleep per night, but two out of three high school students fail to get their full eight hours of rest on school nights, according to the report. The proportion of students who fail to get sufficient sleep has remained steady since 2007.
Teens who don't get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, suffer from depression, perform poorly in school and engage in unhealthy behaviors such as drinking, smoking and drug use, the CDC said.
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Aug. 6, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Five out of six middle and high schools in the United States start the day too early, which keeps students from getting the sleep they need, a new government report finds.
Middle and high schools should aim for a start time no earlier than 8:30 a.m. to help kids get enough sleep, according to a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year.
But a review of U.S. Department of Education data found that slightly less than 18 percent of public middle and high schools start at 8:30 a.m. or later.
The average school start time across the nation was 8:03 a.m., according to the report published in the Aug. 7 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"Getting enough sleep is important for students' health, safety and academic performance," said lead author Anne Wheaton, an epidemiologist in the CDC's division of population health. "Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need."
Wheaton added that she suspects busing schedules are the leading factor in early school start times.
"For some reason, they chose to start the high school earliest, which really does fight against the biology of the high school students," she said. "They really can't get up early enough."
"It's been a couple of decades the research has been building up to support the AAP's recommendation," Wheaton added. "We're hoping in the coming years we'll see a trend going in the other direction, but it will take time."
Teenagers need to get at least eight hours of sleep per night, but two out of three high school students fail to get their full eight hours of rest on school nights, according to the report. The proportion of students who fail to get sufficient sleep has remained steady since 2007.
Teens who don't get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, suffer from depression, perform poorly in school and engage in unhealthy behaviors such as drinking, smoking and drug use, the CDC said.
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