We all understand, at some level, that sleep is critical to our health. But there’s a cultural undercurrent that belies that understanding: We tend to glorify the go-getters who can survive on four or five hours of sleep, lauding their productivity and drive. Numerous studies have shown that Americans of all ages - kids, teens, and adults - are not getting enough sleep.
More and more, researchers are warning that lack of sleep can damage our long-term health. Just yesterday, Rafael Pelayo, MD, with the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, was on KQED’s Forum radio program to discuss a new study looking at some alarming trends in teen sleep habits. The study, titled “The Great Sleep Recession” was published this week in the scientific journal Pediatrics. It showed that over the past 20 years, teens have been getting less sleep. Girls, minority teens, teens in urban areas and of low socioeconomic status were less likely to get at least seven hours of sleep than male, white teens. What’s more, minority teens and low SES teens were likely to report they thought they got enough sleep.
During the show, Pelayo spoke about our relationship with sleep and the challenges of sticking to a “sleep budget”:
When I read the title [of the study] it made me think of Bill Dement, who talks - at Stanford - about a sleep debt and not having enough total sleep. And a sleep debt has been growing and accumulating in people who have used sleep as something as optional in their lives. These students are... modeling after their parents, who are not getting enough sleep… But in the kids, it’s a particularly hard problem for them, they feel pressure to not get enough sleep.
Pelayo went on to say that parents and teens tend to prioritize other things, like homework, over sleep - but what they should be doing is setting aside a certain amount of time for sleep. "If the homework doesn’t get done, it doesn’t get done. They can’t make homework more important than sleep," he said.
That last statement is a pretty radical suggestion, but if we are to avoid the fall-out from our bad sleep habits, radical changes may be the only solution.
Previously: With school bells ringing, parents should ensure their children are doing enough sleeping, Stanford docs discuss all things sleep, Study shows poor sleep habits as a teenager can "stack the deck against you for obesity later in life" and What are the consequences of sleep deprivation?
Photo by Alberto Vacarro
