American Academy of Pediatrics (2014). Policy statement: School start times for adolescents. Pediatrics, 134(3), 642-649.

Full text

Abstract

The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes insufficient sleep in adolescents as an important public health issue that significantly affects the health and safety, as well as the academic success, of our nation's middle and high school students. Although a number of factors, including biological changes in sleep associated with puberty, lifestyle choices, and academic demands, negatively affect middle and high school students' ability to obtain sufficient sleep, the evidence strongly implicates earlier school start times (ie, before 8:30 am) as a key modifiable contributor to insufficient sleep, as well as circadian rhythm disruption, in this population. Furthermore, a substantial body of research has now demonstrated that delaying school start times is an effective countermeasure to chronic sleep loss and has a wide range of potential benefits to students with regard to physical and mental health, safety, and academic achievement. The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly supports the efforts of school districts to optimize sleep in students and urges high schools and middle schools to aim for start times that allow students the opportunity to achieve optimal levels of sleep (8.5-9.5 hours) and to improve physical (eg, reduced obesity risk) and mental (eg, lower rates of depression) health, safety (eg, drowsy driving crashes), academic performance, and quality of life.

Keywords

Adolescents; insufficient sleep; school start times

MeSH Terms
    Adolescent
    Circadian Rhythm/physiology*
    Educational Status
    Humans
    Pediatrics/standards
    Schools*/standards
    Sleep Deprivation/prevention & control
    Sleep Deprivation/psychology*
    Sleep Stages/physiology*
    Societies, Medical/standards
    Students/psychology*
    Time Factors