Why 70% of Teens Are Sleep Deprived and How It Affects Their Health

The Impact of Adolescent Sleep Deprivation

The substantial lack of sleep in teens is particularly notable because of their unique developmental period, according to Stacey L. Simon, PhD, who serves as a professor of pediatrics and an expert on sleep at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine. Teens have a natural delay in their circadian rhythms that works against early school schedules. Their brains are just programmed to not feel sleepy until very late, Simon stated. In recent sleep studies conducted by Simon and her colleagues, participating parents and teens pointed to high anxiety levels, busy schedules, and heavy electronic device usage as primary drivers adding to daily stress and lack of rest.

While parents traditionally worry about adolescent moods and academic grades, researchers emphasize that sleep deprivation can affect broader public health issues, including the national obesity crisis. Simon noted that sleep is emerging as the third pillar of a healthy lifestyle, playing an essential role in weight management. We’re really seeing this across the lifespan: that individuals with short sleep duration are at increased risk for higher body weight, Simon said.

Links Between Sleep, Metabolism, and Weight Management

Repeated scientific studies in adults have demonstrated that restricting volunteer sleep leads to the consumption of an extra 200 to 300 calories, according to Seth Creasy, PhD, an associate professor of endocrinology, metabolism, and diabetes. While physical activity and diet remain the primary behavioral forces behind weight gain, sleep acts as an underlying support for both elements, according to Creasy—an obesity medicine specialist at the Colorado Nutrition Obesity Research Center and the CU Anschutz Health and Wellness Center who partnered with Simon on this year’s published review examining sleep as an obesity treatment.

Beyond general weight management, researchers express deep concern regarding the cardiometabolic health consequences of delayed sleep timing in teens. We’ve seen that in adolescents short sleep duration and late timing of sleep are associated with poorer insulin sensitivity, that could over time increase risk for obesity and type 2 diabetes, Simon explained. Excess body weight across the lifespan contributes to elevated rates of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some types of cancers, musculoskeletal diseases, and premature mortality.

School Start Times and Adolescent Autonomy

To combat chronic adolescent sleep deficits, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2014 that middle and high schools begin classes no earlier than 8:30 a.m. However, institutional compliance with this guideline lags, according to Simon. A majority of schools start much earlier than that, Simon said, noting that teens visiting the sleep clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado are consistently forced to sleep outside their natural biological clocks during the academic year.

Compounding the challenge, teenagers possess greater autonomy over key behavioral choices, including dietary selections, eating schedules, and exercise habits. So it’s sort of this confluence of factors that all increases risk for higher weight gain, Simon observed. Because these routines often become firmly established during adolescence, researchers hope that raising awareness of sleep health will drive more effective behavioral interventions in homes and healthcare settings.