American teenagers start their school days too early, according to a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Early school start times are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need,” said Anne Wheaton, a CDC epidemiologist who led the study.
The report released on Thursday, Aug. 6, found that on average, among an estimated 39,700 public middle, high and combined schools in the United States, school started at 8:03 a.m.
“Overall, only 17.7 percent of these public schools started school at 8:30 a.m. or later,” the CDC wrote in the agency’s weekly report.
While teenagers need a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night, the CDC states that two out of three high school students get less than that. This number has remained consistent since 2007.
While the argument has been made that youth simply need to sleep earlier, research indicates that adolescents cannot help staying up late.
“In puberty, biological rhythms commonly shift so that adolescents become sleepy later at night and need to sleep later in the morning,” Wheaton’s team wrote.
“These biological changes are often combined with poor sleep hygiene (including irregular bedtimes and the presence of televisions, computers, or mobile phones in the bedroom),” they added.
Getting sufficient sleep is key for the health, safety and academic performance of students, Wheaton said.
Researchers wrote that adolescents who lack adequate sleep are more likely to suffer from depressive symptoms, be overweight, not engage in daily physical activity and perform poorly in school. They are also more likely to be involved in unhealthy risk behaviors, including using illegal drugs, smoking tobacco and drinking.
In 2014, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that schools, at the earliest, start their days at 8:30 a.m.
School start times are not set by the federal government or states, but by districts or the school itself.
Among districts that have adjusted its school start times is in Montgomery County, Maryland. Former superintendent Joshua Starr suggesting pushing high school start times by 50 minutes, but doing so would cost $21 million annually. Additionally, the plan was not unanimously backed by parents.
“These are really tough budget times for school districts around the nation,” a spokeswoman for the district said.
The end result was a compromise that will not cost the district anything. This month, high schools will begin 20 minutes later at 7:45 a.m., middle schools will start at 8:15 a.m. and elementary schools will begin 10 minutes later. The latter move was made to accommodate school bus schedules rather than for the benefit of the younger children, who typically wake up earlier than older kids, NBC News reported.
“Although 20 minutes may not be ideal for extending sleep time for all high school students, it is a move in the right direction,” Patricia O’Neill, president of Montgomery County’s board of education, said in a statement.
Among the largest hurdles to pushing school start times is bus schedules, as most districts use the same buses and drivers to transport elementary and high school students to school. The longer buses are on the road, the more it costs to pay the drivers.
The government has prioritized sleep patterns for teenagers and has included the topic in its Healthy People 2020 objectives. By 2020, officials hope more teens will be getting eight hours of sleep per night.
For now, the CDC recommends that use of technology at night – such as cell phones, tablets and computers – be limited among adolescents. (With reports from NBC News and US News & World Report)
