- Recommendations
- 8-10 hours per 24 hours
- Reality
- 75% of preadolescents and 45% of late adolescents exhibit sleep problems
- 70% of US teens regularly sleep less than 8 hours
Recommendations that use the modified RAND Appropriateness Method suggest that teens 13-18 of age should sleep 8-10 hours per 24 hours on a regular basis to promote optimal health. However, many recent studies reveal that teens are not getting as much sleep and that sleep deprivation is a pervasive problem. 75% of preadolescents and 45% of late adolescents exhibit sleep problems, with up to 70% of US teens regularly sleeping less than 8 hours. Adolescents frequently report receiving insufficient sleep. In fact, only 15% percent reported sleeping 8.5 or more hours on school nights, whereas 26% reported sleeping 6.5 hours or less. But these teens need just as much sleep as preteens, and their optimal sleep duration is 9 hours a night.
Country-specific studies have revealed that the lack of sleep, though common around the world, differs in severity in different areas. In the US, high school seniors sleep on average 6.9 hours a night, contrasting to the average of 8.4 hours of sleep 6th graders get. South Korean teens sleep for a shockingly short period of time, sleeping on average 4.9 hours a night. This may be attributed to early school beginning times (between 7 and 8:30am) and additional evening classes many students take in Korea. Researchers attribute such deprived hours of sleep as a cause of Korea's relatively high suicide rates, linking chronic sleep deprivation to suicide. Australian teens sleep the best among these mentioned countries. Their teens sleep on average 9 hours a night, which fits in the range of recommended hours of daily sleep. Their sufficient sleep may possibly be because school usually starts later in Australia.