Modern teens are sleeping less than ever — study finds

A new study suggests that today’s teenagers are getting far less sleep than their peers did in the 2000s — and the trend is becoming a serious health concern.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 120,000 U.S. high school students collected between 2007 and 2023. Their findings show that a full 8 hours of sleep on school nights is becoming increasingly rare.

Key findings:
• The share of teens sleeping less than 7 hours rose from 68.9% to 76.8%
• The proportion sleeping less than 5 hours increased from 15.8% to 23%
• Nearly 1 in 4 high school students now lives with extremely severe sleep deprivation

The researchers say the issue is not only that teens are sleeping a bit less overall — the number of adolescents getting catastrophically little sleep is also rising.

The trend was observed not only in vulnerable groups, but across the board. Teenagers with depression appear to be especially affected.

Chronic sleep deprivation is associated with higher risks of:
• depression
• cardiovascular disease
• diabetes

The study is based on self-reported sleep data, but the authors argue that the findings are serious enough to justify changes in school policy — including later school start times, which could improve sleep, mental health, and academic performance.

Source: JAMA
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2845759