{"id":620,"date":"2018-08-31T17:09:23","date_gmt":"2018-08-31T17:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleepdunwoody.com\/blog\/?p=620"},"modified":"2020-06-18T15:11:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T15:11:03","slug":"sleep-deprivation-teenagers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleepdunwoody.com\/blog\/2018\/08\/31\/sleep-deprivation-teenagers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dangers of Sleep Deprivation in Teenagers"},"content":{"rendered":"\"sleep\n\nDoes your day start with a battle every morning to get your teen out of bed? Are they apt to sleep nine, ten, or even twelve hours on the weekend? Are they constantly complaining about how tired they are?<\/span>\n\nThe trope of the sleepy teen is usually played for laughs on TV and in movies, but it can be quite worrisome when it\u2019s your<\/i> child who seems to be constantly exhausted. When it comes to chronic sleep deprivation in teenagers, is there anything that can be done?<\/span>\n\n\n\nResearch suggests that sleep deprivation in teenagers is more prevalent than ever, which is putting their mental and physical health at risk.<\/span>\n

Why Do Teens Need So Much Sleep?<\/h2>\nWhen your child was little, you had to beg and plead them to go to sleep, and now, you practically need a crowbar to get them out of bed. What happened?<\/span>\n\nPrimarily, biology happened. According to the National Sleep Foundation,\u00a0<\/span>\u201cteens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best.\u201d<\/span><\/a> Additionally, as children reach a stage of rapid mental and physical development, their biological sleep and wake patterns naturally shift towards later times. It\u2019s normal for a teen to not be able to fall asleep before 11:00 PM.\u00a0<\/span>When you combine this biological shift with early school schedules, extended technology use, expanding social calendars, and other stressors, it means that teens are rarely getting as much sleep as they need.<\/span>\n\nIn fact,<\/span> teen sleep has definitively declined<\/span><\/a> over the past 20 years according to a study published in <\/span>Pediatrics, <\/span><\/i>the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. In the study, most teens were only getting about 7 hours of sleep each night, which can easily lead to sleep deprivation.<\/span>\n

The Effects of Sleep Deprivation in Teenagers<\/h2>\nThe cause of all that moodiness associated with teenagers could actually be due, at least in part, to sleep deprivation. Sleep deprivation in teenagers creates a\u00a0<\/span>risk for major depression<\/span><\/a> in adolescents.<\/span> Additionally, <\/span>r<\/span>esearch suggests<\/span><\/a> that a lack of sleep may interfere with how the brain processes rewards, possibly affecting mood and making teens more likely to engage in risky behaviors or develop addiction issues.<\/span>\n\nNew research even reveals that it can increase a teenager\u2019s risk for heart disease. <\/span>\n\nA 2018 study<\/span><\/a> conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics observed the sleeping habits of 829 adolescents between the ages of twelve and sixteen. It found that inadequate sleep was highly prevalent with 31% of the teen participants sleeping less than seven hours each night. <\/span>\n\nThe participants with shorter sleep durations and lower sleep efficiency had the least healthy cardiovascular and metabolic profiles, meaning they had increased body fat, higher blood pressure, and lower HDL-cholesterol. HDL-cholesterol is considered a \u201cgood\u201d cholesterol that removes \u201cbad\u201d cholesterol from the body. When HDL-cholesterol is low, the risk for heart disease is increased.<\/span>\n

How to Help Your Teen Get Better Sleep<\/h2>\nIt is clear that teenagers need sufficient sleep to feel their best and avoid health risks when it comes to their emotional, physical and mental wellbeing.<\/span>\n\nHere\u2019s what you can do as a parent to make sure your teen is getting the rest they need:<\/span>\n