SAFE NATURAL CURES & LIVING

US researchers say that the inner clock (circadian rhythm) of teenagers directs them to be ready for sleep later at night than when they were younger.

This has become just one more opportunity to take the responsibility off the person and the parents, and to be able to place blame.  The blame is put on schools for not starting later to accommodate teenagers – it must be the schools’ responsibility.  It is also a wonderful opportunity to tell us (again) that we need the (socialist-leaning) government to force the situation.  In this case, it is to force schools to change their hours.  The bottom line is that many adults do not parent their kids and the government thinks that none of us is smart enough to do so. 

From the National Sleep Foundation:  “On April 2, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), introduced a congressional resolution to encourage schools and school districts to reconsider early morning start times to be more in sync with teens’ biological makeup. House Congressional Resolution 135 or the “ZZZ’s to A’s” Act would encourage individual schools and school districts all over the country to move school start times to no earlier than 8:30 a.m.”

If teenagers “are our future,” as one author put it, they deserve to be parented.  Left to their own devices, young children might have cookies and soda for dinner every night, never take a bath, never brush their teeth, etc.  Parents usually step in to guide their young children instead.  Adolescents are still in need of guidance and parenting. 

“What can I do to improve things,” is the appropriate question, not “Who can I blame for my problem?”  If responsibility for things is given early in life, it is a concept that kids can understand and appreciate.  When a teenage girl is asked occasionally to wash dishes, she may leave dishes with food on them on the counter every day.  When she is given the responsibility to wash all of her dishes every day, she will avoid this consequence by rinsing each dish after she uses it.  It is a win-win situation when people take responsibility.  It is difficult for teenagers to take responsibility for their own actions when their parents won’t take responsibility for parenting.

Almost all of the circadian rhythm research on teenagers was done in the US.  At least one study compared American teenagers with those in Italy.  Everyone has to occasionally adjust their inner clock (during daylight savings time, when traveling in a different time zone, or sometimes when we change jobs, etc.), and it can be done.  The study cited below found that the main difference (between the success of the adolescents in Italy versus those in the US), in addition to and to help facilitate adjusting the inner clock, is in bedtime routine and “sleep hygiene.”  That makes it dependent upon conditions which can be controlled and changed.

From Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, January 2005, study of teenagers in Italy and the USA:  “Italian adolescents practiced markedly better sleep hygiene and reported substantially better sleep quality than American adolescents.  Across cultures, reported practice of sleep hygiene (ASHS total) was moderately to strongly related to sleep quality (ASWS total), and these relationships were not attributable to any of the measured demographic and individual difference variables. Furthermore, differences in overall sleep quality between the Italian and American samples were, for the most part, due to differences in sleep-hygiene practices.”

They found “increased sleep problems among adolescents who worry, feel sad [parents, do you listen to your kids?], or engage in cognitively stimulating activities just before bedtime.”

“In Italy, better sleep-hygiene practices may be due to maintenance of parental involvement into early adolescence.”

“Our findings suggest that sleep hygiene is importantly related to sleep quality during adolescence and support the implementation and evaluation of educational programs that emphasize good sleep habits. Investigating similarities and differences in sleep and sleep-related practices within and across countries may facilitate an understanding of factors that underlie sleep/wake regulation during adolescence. Furthermore, these results indicate that culture may influence sleep-hygiene practices and that these sleep-related behaviors may put adolescents from different cultures at risk for poor sleep quality.”

American parents seem to do less parenting than Italian parents.  But, despite the propaganda from Congress, parents can change this without government intervention.  If schools are forced to start later, they will end later, so teenagers will stay up later still.  Unless parents improve things at home, the cycle would not be changed, merely the time of day that the cycle starts.  The article below tells how.

see How to Get Teenagers to Sleep Despite Their Inner Clock, dated August 21, 2007

Teenagers see staying up late at night as a right.  Even though teenagers push to stay up later and later, they do still need more sleep than adults.  Many adults function best with 7 hours of sleep, but school-aged children need 9 or 10 hours.  Teenagers will give themselves this much sleep if they are allowed to wake up on their own.  Weekends attest to this.  But, it is necessary for them to go to bed early enough to get 9 or 10 hours of sleep before getting up for school. 

Kids start a new cycle in approximately the sixth grade.  It seems that their inner clock is telling them to stay up later.  But, they end up sleepy and sluggish in the morning if this is allowed because they still need the same amount of sleep.  If the situation goes unchanged, the effects worsen.

Getting enough sleep is necessary to stay healthy.  Lack of sleep can cause physical and emotional problems, and learning difficulties.  Impaired memory, concentration and ability to learn – these seem to describe the typical teenager, who is probably not getting enough sleep.  Anxiety, depression, and other emotional problems – even more “symptoms” of being a teenager that relate back to sleep deprivation.  Poor decision-making, poor judgment, increased risk taking – all three describe many, if not most, teenagers.  It is possible that most teenagers are not getting to bed early enough.

Parents can help kids adjust their inner clock, known as circadian rhythm, so that they can get the sleep they require.  A schedule helps greatly.  The younger a schedule is started, the easier it is to keep a regular sleep schedule as they age.  And, if younger kids are sent to bed as early as they really need to, the forward push of the cycle is probably not as late into the night as kids that routinely stayed up too late. 

One big step is to help kids start winding down in the evening instead of allowing more physical activity or television shows that are too stimulating.  Shows that are too stimulating or are aired too late can be recorded for viewing at a better time.

Kids are getting less sleep as the popularity of coffee, soda, and/or “energy” drinks increases.  All of these drinks should be limited in general and be stopped before dinnertime.  And, dinnertime should be at least 3 hours before bedtime to prevent obesity.

Kids who are active during the day will be more likely to be tired at bedtime.  Sunlight is not only healthy, it helps to normalize the sleep schedule.  On dreary days or when a child cannot get out in the sun, the house should be brightly lit.  Bright lights should then be dimmed in the evening.  Bright lights include the computer screen and television.  TV viewing should be done from a distance, and computer use should be scheduled for late in the afternoon or very early in the evening.  Mornings should include bright lights to start the day cycle.

Kids also need the right conditions to be met in order to be able to sleep properly.   They should not use the bed as a place to do homework; or to lie on while listening to their favorite music, read, make phone calls, or watch television.  This reserves the bed as a place for sleeping.  It is even better if most of these activities take place outside the bedroom.  The bed should be neat and inviting for sleep instead of piled high with notebooks and clothes.  The child’s bedroom should be dark and quiet when they do go to bed, although soft music can be soothing.  And, the rest of the household should not be loud enough to be a distraction.

When kids are not sleepy at bedtime, lying in bed in the dark will at least allow their bodies and minds to begin to recharge for the next day.  Lots of kids who complain, “I’m not tired,” fall asleep quickly once they are in bed.

Once a good sleep schedule has become regular, it is safe to allow kids to stay up 1 or 2 hours later on Friday and Saturday nights.  For a special occasion, like a sleepover or a concert, a good compromise would be for kids to take a nap before dinner.

(A follow-up to “Ephedra Free,” dated August 13th, 2007)

Coffee contains about twice as much caffeine as soda, and    most of the energy drinks contain at least as much caffeine as coffee.  One of the energy drinks contains as much caffeine as five cups of coffee, or the equivalent of two and a half Vivarin, No-Doz or Dexatrim.  (The name of this drink is being omitted so kids won’t search it out.)   To put this into perspective, the Olympic Committee will disquality an athlete that has had more than three cups of coffee.

And, that is only the amount of caffeine listed as a separate ingredient.  The top drink also includes green tea, which contains additional caffeine.  Some of these drinks also add guarana, ginseng, and/or mate – which are stimulants.  One brand of energy drink contains 140 mg of caffeine, and it also contains 600 mg of ginseng and an unknown amount of guarana. 

The FDA does not require disclosure of the amounts of caffeine, guarana, ginseng, or mate on energy drinks.  But, this information is available on internet sites.  The labels do not contain enough information for an adult to make an informed decision.  But, kids most likely don’t read labels at all.  So it is up to parents to research the drinks their kids are ingesting, or put limits on what their kids are allowed to drink.  Adults may be used to drinking one or two cups of coffee in one sitting, but kids are not; and kids have smaller bodies than adults, so stimulants affect them more.  A child is also not likely to limit themselves as adults do.

Too much caffeine and/or other stimulants found in energy drinks can cause dangerous symptoms. 

These can include some or all of:  diarrhea, sleeplessness, heart palpitations, dehydration, panic attack, and suicide.  Dehydration, for instance, can cause death, especially when it is mixed with exercise and/or heat. 

Kids can “bounce off the walls” without energy drinks.  And, kids can be moody enough without the withdrawal symptoms that come after the stimulants wear off.  If parents don’t worry about the dangers of energy drinks for their kids’ sakes, they should at least worry about them for the sake of their own sanity.

Most people know that caffeine is stimulant.  Many do not realize that guarana, ginseng and mate are also.  Stimulants can be beneficial when used correctly.

Another stimulant, ephedra, was taken off the market because a few people died after taking it.  Some of the fatalities occurred when it was taken before extreme physical activity, or rigorous activity in extreme heat.  When used correctly, it does work wonders for allergies and asthma.

After the ephedra scare, companies started adding “no ephedra” to their labels.

The Monster drink contains guarana, ginseng and caffeine.  Kids love to drink it for its energy boost.  Snapple has at least eight drinks that contain all three ingredients.  The problem with “energy” drinks and many pills (mainly for weight loss) is twofold:   that they contain one of these in an excessive amount, or a combination of these ingredients; and that many of the labels do not specify that they are stimulants.  Some even imply that their product contains no stimulants because it is “ephedra free.”

It is important to read labels on everything nowadays.  It is equally important to know what the ingredient names mean.