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A survey presented by the American Thoracic Society 2007 International Conference last Sunday shows that teenagers are not getting enough sleep.

The survey of 280 students from Harriton High School where school begins at 7:30 and ends 14:25 shows that:

-- 78% of students said it was difficult to get up in the morning
-- Only 16% said they regularly had enough sleep
-- 70% thought their grades would improve if they had more sleep
-- 90% thought their academic performance would improve if school were to start later

Apparently teens need 8-9 hours of sleep per day unlike adults who needs 7-8 hours. They normally are awake until 1 or 2 a.m because of their biological clock, and since they have to wake up early for their classes that normally starts 7:30 in the morning, they only achieve a maximum of 6 1/2 - 7 hours of sleep.

The surveyed teens believed that they only reach the pinnacle of their abilities between 11 am to 1 pm, hence they are less likely to perform their best during the early hours.

Richard Schwab, M.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, who conducted the research believes that that school system should reverse the school system based on sleep cycles, since teens and their circadian rhythms are phase shifted. Changing teens' school start time to 8:30 would increase student's sleep and would "likely" improve their performance.

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