The quality of sleep of adolescents: an essential data
A recent scientific study has just been published in the pages of the “Journal of Pediatrics”, a British medical journal. We learn that lack of sleep in adolescence leads to overweight once adulthood is reached. But why would young people have disturbed sleep? How are their nights so disorderly that they upset their endocrine system?
It should be noted that adolescents are not insomniacs. In fact, they hate going to bed and therefore delay the time of falling asleep as much as possible and, this is how, gradually, certain disorders are created . Overview..
Lack of sleep is detrimental
The experiments were carried out by researchers from the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University (NYC). They wanted to understand the deleterious effects of lack of sleep in young adolescents.
In fact, it all starts with a Finnish study that highlights research conducted on more than 1,200 students aged between ten and eleven. It shows that children who consume a large number of kilocalories are those who sleep the least and who therefore feel tired during the day. Between 1995 and 2001, New York scientists took over this study and selected ten thousand young Americans aged between sixteen and twenty-one in order to dissect all their medical data.
According to Shakira F. Suglia, assistant professor at the Mailman School of Public Health , one in five adolescents sleeps only six hours a night and thus develops a 20% increased risk of obesity in adulthood. For her, the lack of sleep stored in adolescence can lead to obesity later in life.
And obese people know it well: it is much more problematic to lose weight and keep it off, in adulthood rather than in adolescence.
But, what are the right conditions for successfully falling asleep?
Restful sleep is the result of a specific process
No one can ignore the benefits of optimized sleep. For this, the best is to prepare your night with a particular ritual adapted to each one. An ideal night should last at least eight hours for a teenager, with a sleep protocol necessary to prepare the body for this period of time. Reading, drinking a glass of milk, herbal tea, eating lightly, brushing your teeth, kissing your parents… these are all small key moments that prepare you to fall asleep. It is vital to avoid bad habits such as those of working on your computer, listening to loud and lively music, drinking coffee, swallowing an energy or alcohol-based drink after 4 p.m.
The regularity of the times of falling asleep and waking up must be taken into account. It is therefore vital to create good habits concerning this second part of life, which is the night. Thus, the scientists wish to send a message to parents who must ensure that their children fall asleep at the correct times with a sleep quality of eight hours. We know that a “good night” is restorative for the body / mental balance and that it ensures the concentration necessary for long days of study.
In the long term, good sleep leads to optimal health for healthy adults. If sleep is good for your health, lacking it increases the risk of illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, depression, cancer and… obesity . Sleep disorders currently affect 20% of the population in OECD countries.
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.