Sleepy teens prone to bad behaviours

Most teens don't get enough sleep, putting them at greater risk for a slew of unhealthy behaviours, from physical inactivity to fighting, according to a new study.

The study findings also showed that sleep-deprived teens were more likely to seriously consider attempting suicide, the researchers from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

For the study, the investigators analysed the results of a 2007 national Youth Risk Behaviour Survey of high school students who were polled about their sleep habits. The survey found that nearly 70% of the teens were not getting the National Sleep Foundation's recommended eight or more hours of sleep on week nights.

The research also revealed that the students who said they got less than eight hours of sleep on school nights were more likely to engage in behaviours that put their health at risk, including:

• Drinking non-diet soda at least once a day.
• Being sedentary or not getting 60 minutes of physical activity on at least five of the past seven days.
• Spending three or more hours each day in front of the computer.
• Getting in at least one physical fight.
• Engaging in substance use, such as drinking alcohol or smoking cigarettes or marijuana.
• Having sex.
• Feeling sad or hopeless.
• Seriously contemplating suicide.

The survey showed there was no association between lack of sleep and watching three or more hours of television daily among the teens.

"Many adolescents are not getting the recommended hours of sleep they need on school nights. Insufficient sleep is associated with participation in a number of health-risk behaviours including substance use, physical fighting and serious consideration of suicide attempt," Lela McKnight-Eily, of the CDC's division of adult and community health, said in an agency news release.

"Public health intervention is greatly needed, and the consideration of delayed school start times may hold promise as one effective step in a comprehensive approach to address this problem," McKnight-Eily added.

The research was released online in advance of print publication in the journal Preventive Medicine. - (HealthDay News, October 2011)

More information

The National Sleep Foundation provides more information on teens and sleep.

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