Sleepy teens engage in more risky activities

Teens who are sleep deprived are at risk for more than just falling asleep in class. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that sleep-deprived teens are more likely to smoke, drink and fight.

A survey was conducted of more that 12,000 teens. About 68 percent said that on an average school night, they get less than eight hours of sleep. Those students were more likely to be involved in risky health behaviors than students who got more than eight hours of sleep. The behaviors included smoking cigarettes and marijuana, drinking alcohol and getting into a physical fight.

Sleep-deprived students were also more sexually active and less likely to exercise. They also were more likely to feel sad or hopeless and think about committing suicide.

The study was published online by the Preventive Medicine journal.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that most teens need a little more than nine hours of sleep each night. Is your teen getting enough sleep? Find out by reviewing the signs your teen needs sleep on the Your Sleep website. Read more posts about teens and sleep.

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Amount of sleep time linked to risk of teen suicide

Not getting enough sleep can lead to worrisome side effects such as daytime sleepiness and even memory loss. However, did you know that it can be associated with other consequences such as suicidal ideation (thinking of committing suicide)? Studies have confirmed that long total sleep times and short total sleep times (TSTs) are linked to suicidal ideation among adults. The hypothesis that total sleep times also are risks for teens was recently tested, and the results are published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Researchers used the Youth Risk Behavior Survey to conduct their study. The survey included school-based and nationally representative samples. Researchers analyzed the link between suicidality and sleep, accounting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, feelings of sadness, and substance abuse.

About 15 percent of students reported suicidal ideation, 10 percent said they had planned suicide, five percent attempted it, and two percent said that their attempt had required treatment. The teens that had five hours of sleep or less had a higher risk of suicidality than those who had a total sleep time of eight hours. The same goes for teens who had 10 hours of sleep or more.

The findings suggest that both short and long TSTs are risk factors for suicidality in teenagers. More studies need to be done to examine whether or not sleep duration is a causal or modifiable risk factor for teens.

Read more about the realtionship between sleep and suicide.

If you think your teen may have problems sleeping, visit an AASM-accredited sleep center near you.

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Sleepy Teens Eat More Fatty Foods and Snacks

Poor sleep habits go hand-in-hand with unhealthy diets for teenagers. A new study shows teens that sleep less than eight hours on weeknights usually eat more fatty foods and snack more often than their well-rested peers.

The high-fat, snack filled diet is a recipe for obesity, especially as female teens as researchers discovered through data analysis.

Short sleep durations may cause a number of small adjustments in eating habits, altogether changing a teenager’s energy balance. Results show teens who slept less than eight hours consumed 2.2 percent more calories from fat and 3.0 percent fewer calories from carbohydrates.

Sleep-deprived teens were also more likely to grab a snack between meals. For each extra hour of sleep the change of consuming a high amount of calories in snacks decreased by 21 percent.

The study examined the diets of 240 teens in Cleveland, Ohio. Wrist actigraphy data indicated only 34 percent of the participating teens slept for more than eight hours per night. Researchers cross-referenced the hours each teen slept with nutrition data, collected in interviews.

The authors of the study say it’s not clear why the relationship between sleep length and eating habits is stronger for females. They speculate teenage girls are more likely to engage in emotional eating. Because the findings were based on correlation, researchers could not determine the cause of the relationship.

Females with poor sleep habits may unhealthy foods, but men potentially face far worse consequences. Men with long-term insomnia are more likely to die.

Learn more about teen sleep habits and what is keeping them awake at night.

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