The Sleep Council warns that “junk sleep” could rival the unhealthy junk food craze as a major lifestyle issue for parents of teenage children.
Their poll of 1,000 teenagers between the ages of 12 to 16 revealed that 30 percent got only four to seven hours of sleep. And almost 25 percent said they fell asleep while watching TV, listening to music, or perusing some other electronic gadget.
About 40 percent said they felt tired each day, and some 20 percent of the boys admitted their quality of sleep was affected by leaving their TV or computer on. However, only 11 percent said they were bothered by the lack of quantity, or quality, of sleep.
Dr. Chris Idzikowski with the Edinburgh Sleep Centre stated, “What we are seeing is the emergence of Junk Sleep – that is sleep that is of neither the length nor quality that it should be in order to feed the brain with the rest it needs to perform properly at school.”
The Sleep Council Press Release
The Sleep Council Teenage Sleep: Facts, Figures & Tips
Scientific American August 28, 2007
Do you have any tips on how to sleep better? Please share them.
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elyse kaprielian:
October 27th, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Thanks Joy for the helpful tips. My kid’s Dr. also told them to move electronics from room at bedtime!
Joy Feldman:
October 27th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
Hey Elyse,
So glad you liked the article. I like your doc’s advice. Thanks for commenting.
Anonymous:
October 28th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
Wow, what a comprehensive article! I’ll definitely tell my friends your suggestions!
pc-veryslow:
October 30th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Thank you for this post ! It was really usefull !
Could you provide me some extra info regarding this subject?
Dorothy Skirzenski:
October 31st, 2009 at 1:21 am
My kids will never have TV’s in their room. Not only does it reduce sleep it takes away from family time. Sleep is very important. Thanks for the article.