Health
8 in 10 teens aren’t getting enough sleep, says National Sleep Foundation: ‘Deeply concerning’
Teens should be getting between eight and 10 hours of sleep every night, experts say — yet a vast majority of them are falling short.
The 2024 Sleep in America Poll from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., found that 80% of teens don’t get enough sleep — and the typical teen scored a failing grade of “F” in terms of practicing healthy sleep behaviors.
Teens also reported that when they get insufficient sleep, their mental and emotional health suffers.
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The poll compiled sleep data from a variety of indexes and questionnaires conducted by NSF, as well as the PHQ-9 (patient health questionnaire) to gauge teens’ depressive symptoms.
Here’s a deeper dive into the issue.
Teens should get between eight and 10 hours of sleep each night, experts say — yet a vast majority of them are falling short. (iStock)
Why are teens so sleep-deprived?
Teens face many challenges in getting a healthy amount of sleep, according to Dr. Joseph Dzierzewski, PhD, vice president of research and scientific affairs at NSF, who was one of the researchers working on the study.
“Those [challenges] include school schedules and demands, extracurricular activities, social commitments, employment responsibilities and the constant lure of electronic content, to name a few,” he told Fox News Digital.
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School demands and activities are one of the biggest sleep blockers, the poll found.
Teens are nearly half as likely to get the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep on school nights compared to weekends, and they are more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with the amount of sleep they get on school nights compared to weekends.
Link between sleep and mental health
There is a two-way connection between sleep health and mental health, Dzierzewski noted.
“Poor sleep health can lead to depressive symptoms, and depressive symptoms can lead to poor sleep health,” he said.
Teens are nearly half as likely to get the recommended eight to 10 hours of sleep on school nights compared to weekends, a new study found. (iStock)
Teens who don’t get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights, who have difficulty falling or staying asleep, or who are dissatisfied with their sleep have higher levels of depressive symptoms, the poll found.
Dr. Zaid Fadul, the Arizona-based medical director at Better U, an online mental health provider, said he’s struck by the “clear connection” between sleep health and mental well-being in teenagers, which he said he’s observed in his own practice.
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“It’s deeply concerning that such a significant portion of teens are not getting the sleep they need, which undoubtedly impacts their academic performance, emotional health and overall quality of life,” Fadul, who was not involved in the NSF findings, told Fox News Digital.
Lack of sleep can contribute to feelings of sadness, hopelessness and disinterest in activities once enjoyed, the doctor noted.
It can also affect concentration, decision-making, and memory, leading to decreased academic performance and increased stress.
Teens should prioritize slumber with a consistent, relaxing wind-down routine while keeping a regular sleep schedule, an expert said. (iStock)
Mood swings often come with poor sleep, Fadul said, as teens may experience more irritability, short temper and emotional volatility.
“Studies have also shown a link between sleep problems and suicidal ideation among adolescents,” Fadul warned.
Tips for teens to improve sleep
The NSF recommends six small steps that can have a big impact on nighttime sleep.
During the day, teens should get some bright light, especially in the morning.
They should also exercise regularly and eat meals at consistent times daily, Dzierzewski said.
During the evening, teens should avoid caffeine and heavy meals before bedtime.
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They should also prioritize sleep with a consistent, relaxing wind-down routine while keeping a regular sleep schedule, Dzierzewski said.
In addition, teenagers should put devices away before bed and sleep in dark, quiet and cool spaces, according to the NSF’s guidance.
Families, schools and entire communities all play a part in supporting the sleep health of young people, Fadul noted.
Teens who don’t get the recommended amount of sleep on school nights, who have difficulty falling or staying asleep, or who are dissatisfied with their sleep have higher levels of depressive symptoms, new research found. (iStock)
“In my view, parents must be proactive in creating environments conducive to good sleep and in establishing routines that encourage healthier sleep habits, such as reducing screen time before bed,” he said.
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“Moreover, I firmly believe that schools and community programs must align to promote better sleep practices among teenagers, potentially revisiting policies like school start times to better accommodate teens’ biological clocks.”
If sleep problems persist, an expert recommends speaking with a health care provider to explore possible underlying causes and treatment options. (iStock)
Sleep should be prioritized in the public health agenda, Fadul said.
“Health care professionals, educators and policymakers must unite to elevate sleep’s priority,” he said.
“As both a clinician and a parent, I see the urgent need to rethink our approach to teen sleep health, ensuring that it’s treated as the foundational aspect of mental well-being that it truly is.”
If sleep problems persist, Fadul recommends speaking with a health care provider to explore possible underlying causes and treatment options.
For more Health articles, visit www.foxnews.com/health.
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Eating too much salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but new research suggests it could trick the immune system into prematurely aging the blood vessels.
A preclinical study recently published in the Journal of the American Heart Association has identified a biological chain reaction that links a salty diet to cardiovascular decay.
Scientists at the University of South Alabama observed that mice on a high-salt diet experienced rapid deterioration in their blood vessel function.
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After just four weeks of high sodium intake, the small arteries responsible for regulating blood flow lost their ability to relax, according to a press release.
The team found that the cells lining these vessels had entered a state of cellular senescence, a form of premature cellular aging in which cells stop dividing and release a mix of inflammatory signals that can damage surrounding tissue.
Excess salt has long been linked to high blood pressure, but a new study goes deeper into its effects on the cardiovascular system. (iStock)
The researchers tried to replicate this damage by exposing blood vessel cells directly to salt in a laboratory dish, but the cells showed no harmful effects.
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This suggests that salt isn’t directly causing damage to the vascular lining but that the real culprit may be the body’s own defense mechanism, the researchers noted.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16 (IL-16), which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system to release a molecule called interleukin-16, which acts as a messenger that instructs blood vessel cells to grow old before their time, according to the study. (iStock)
Once these cells age, they fail to produce nitric oxide, the essential gas that tells arteries to dilate and stay flexible.
To test whether this process could be reversed, the team turned to a class of experimental drugs known as senolytics.
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Using a cancer medication called navitoclax, which selectively clears out aged and dysfunctional cells, the researchers were able to restore nearly normal blood vessel function in the salt-fed mice, the release stated.
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By removing the decaying cells created by the high-salt diet, the drug allowed the remaining healthy tissue to maintain its elasticity and respond correctly to blood flow demands.
Excess salt may trigger the immune system into stopping the cells from dividing, the study suggests. (iStock)
The study did have some limitations. The transition from mouse models to human treatment remains a significant hurdle, the team cautioned.
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Senolytic drugs like navitoclax are still being studied for safety, and the team emphasized that previous trials have shown mixed results regarding their impact on artery plaque.
Additionally, the researchers have not yet confirmed whether the same IL-16 pathway is the primary driver of vascular aging in humans.
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Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables was found to have a surprising link to lung cancer among younger non-smokers, early research suggests.
The observational study, led by Jorge Nieva, M.D., of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center at Keck Medicine, was presented this month at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in San Diego. It has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Researchers looked at dietary, smoking and demographic data for 187 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer at age 50 or younger.
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They found that among non-smokers, there was a link between healthier-than-average diets – rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains – and the chance of lung cancer development.
Young lung cancer patients ate more servings of dark green vegetables, legumes and whole grains compared to the average U.S. adult, the researchers found.
Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables was found to have a surprising link to lung cancer among younger non-smokers, early research suggests. (iStock)
The researchers hypothesized that pesticides applied to conventionally grown produce could be a possible factor in the disease association.
“Commercially produced (non-organic) fruits, vegetables and whole grains are more likely to be associated with a higher residue of pesticides than dairy, meat and many processed foods,” according to Nieva. He also noted that agricultural workers exposed to pesticides tend to have higher rates of lung cancer.
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“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking,” Nieva told Fox News Digital.
The disease is becoming more common in non-smokers 50 and younger, especially women – despite the fact that smoking rates have been falling for decades, the researcher noted.
The researchers hypothesized that pesticides applied to conventionally grown produce could be a possible factor in the disease association. (iStock)
“These patients tend to have eaten much healthier diets before their diagnosis than the average American,” he went on. “We need to support research into understanding why Americans – and women in particular – who no longer smoke very much are still having lung cancer,” he said.
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The study did have some limitations, Nieva acknowledged, primarily that it relied on survey data and was limited by the participants’ memories of their food intake.
“Also, the survey participants were self-selected, and this could have biased the findings,” he told Fox News Digital.
“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking.”
The researchers did not test specific foods for pesticides, relying instead on average pesticide levels for certain types of food. Looking ahead, they plan to test patients’ blood and urine samples to directly measure pesticide levels, Nieva said.
Although the study shows only an association and does not prove that pesticides caused lung cancer, Nieva recommends that people wash their produce before eating and choose organic foods whenever possible.
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“This work represents a critical step toward identifying modifiable environmental factors that may contribute to lung cancer in young adults,” said Nieva. “Our hope is that these insights can guide both public health recommendations and future investigation into lung cancer prevention.”
“It is possible that the increased lung cancer risk could be due to pesticide exposure in whole farmed foods, but is by no means certain,” a doctor said. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, said the study is “interesting,” but that it “raises far more questions than it answers.”
“It is a small study (around 150) and observational, so no proof,” the doctor, who was not involved in the research, told Fox News Digital.
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“It is possible that the increased lung cancer risk could be due to pesticide exposure in whole farmed foods, but it is by no means certain,” Siegel went on. “How much exposure is needed? How much of it gets into food and in which areas? This requires much further study.”
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Kayla Nichols, communications director for Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network, a distributed global network, said the organization agrees with the study’s conclusion that more research should be done on the rise in lung cancer, particularly in individuals eating diets higher in produce and fiber.
“There is a large subset of lung cancer patients whose disease is not caused by smoking,” the researcher told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
“There is a bounty of existing research that already links pesticide exposure to increased risk of multiple types of cancers,” Nichols, who was also not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital. She called for more research on chronic, low-level exposures to pesticides, as well as more effective policies to protect the public from pesticide residues on food.
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The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, as well as industry partners including AstraZeneca and Genentech, among others.
Fox News Digital reached out to several pesticide companies and trade groups for comment.
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