Overview
- An analysis in JAMA of CDC Youth Risk Behavior Survey data from 2007–2023 reports that 76.8% of U.S. high schoolers got insufficient sleep in 2023, with more than half sleeping under seven hours and a growing share getting fewer than five.
- Very short sleep in adolescents is linked in the literature to emotional regulation problems, poorer academic performance, and elevated risks for obesity and diabetes, and was observed even among teens without typical risk factors.
- A National Sleep Foundation poll finds 44% of children do not meet age-based sleep recommendations, and 78% of caregivers of 0–3 month-olds underestimate infants’ needs.
- The poll shows naps contribute meaningfully to total sleep for young children, and experts caution against dropping naps; limited small studies suggest motion naps can be restorative.
- Experts recommend consistent routines, wind-down periods, morning light, and limiting evening screens and caffeine, while researchers highlight later school start times and schedule adjustments as population-level options.