Early School Hours Linked to Below-Par Academic Performance

A new study has suggested that early schooling hours may be detrimental to teenagers as they do not get adequate sleep and hence turn in poor academic performances. The study conducted with 94 children included younger and older adolescents who were followed for two years where researchers used activity monitors to track how sleep habits changed in younger and older teens. Researchers revealed that sleep/wake cycles changed as children got more mature, which means their circadian rhythms shifted towards a tendency to sleep late and wake up late.

However this was not possible since school started early, meaning the kids' total sleep time was dramatically reduced. This may result in poor academic performance, mood disturbances, depression, obesity, and drowsy driving.

"This is one of the few studies that has tracked sleep behavior and circadian rhythms over the course of up to two-and-a-half years in the same adolescents," said lead author Stephanie Crowley, an assistant professor at Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago.

The study details appear in the journal PLoS ONE.


Source-Medindia