Teens who don’t get enough sleep may be putting their lives at risk.
Most American teens don’t get enough sleep — defined as eight hours or more — on an average school night, according to a study of 50,370 high school students released Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On average, 71% of female teens and 66% of male teens report insufficient sleep on school nights.
What’s more, a study published last year by researchers at Columbia University, found that the problem is getting worse among teens of all ages. For example, roughly 43% of 15-year-olds were getting at least seven hours of sleep in 2012, compared to 52% in 1991; and while 36% of 18-year-olds got at least seven hours of shut-eye two decades ago, now just 33% do.
Some researchers theorize that greater social media and Internet use may be partially to blame for teens getting less sleep.
Table: Teens are chronically sleep deprived
Percentage of teens who say they get 7 or fewer hours of sleep on the average school night
- 9th graders — 59.7%
- 10th graders — 67.4%
- 11th graders — 73.3%
- 12th graders — 76.6%
This lack of sleep does more than just make teens cranky or perform poorly in school, it can put their lives and bodies in harms’ way. In past years, several studies have revealed that teens who don’t get enough sleep are at a higher risk for getting in a car crash, getting hurt while playing sports and getting hurt while at work — likely because, among other reasons, lack of sleep slows reaction times and impairs judgement and the ability to pay attention.
But the CDC study showed something more surprising: A lack of sleep made teens “significantly” more likely to engage in risky — and potentially life-threatening — behaviors, including drinking and driving, texting and driving, riding with a drunk driver, infrequent use of a seat belt and infrequent use of a bicycle helmet.
“Although insufficient sleep contributes to injury risk directly by slowing reaction time, impairing ability to pay attention, or causing a driver to fall asleep, this study provides evidence that some of the increased risk associated with insufficient sleep might be caused by engaging in injury-related risk behaviors,” the study authors write. One possible reason for this: “Insufficient sleep might cause persons to … disregard the possibility of negative consequences,” the CDC concludes.
It isn’t clear that the lack of sleep causes these risky behaviors, and the study had some limitations, including the fact that the sleep and risky behavior were self-reported. And, it’s important to note that it’s not just teens getting too little sleep these days — nearly one in three adults aren’t getting enough shut-eye either.
But the study will concern many parents. To that end, you can find some tips from the National Sleep Foundation that can help your teen get a longer night’s rest here.