Sleep Recharges You!: High School Video Contest

Teenagers can have a bad reputation: moody, remote, unmotivated.¹

These are just stereotypes, but there are many reasons for teen mood changes and research shows that sleep is an important factor.

Most teenagers don't get enough sleep: busy with school, homework, extra-curriculars and a social life. Drinking coffee, tea, or energy drinks and staying up late on phones and computers does not help, all making for sleepier and less happy teens.² And… teens need more sleep than adults.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep a night.³ Most teens (69%) report sleeping fewer than 7 hours on school nights when the AASM recommends 8-10 hours for improving long-term health and reducing the risk of many chronic diseases.⁴

Adequate sleep may also help teens with some of the things they may care about most:

• Physical health: Adequate sleep helps maintain healthy weight
• Athletics: Adequate sleep enables peak performance in sports
• Mood and Energy: Adequate sleep improves emotional regulation
• Academic Excellence: Adequate sleep improves attention, memory, and learning ability

Most of us came to the MyApnea.org website knowing first-hand how important sleep is to living a happy, healthy, and productive life. Prioritizing good sleep at a young age and developing good sleep habits in the adolescent years can be a major investment in one's long term well-being.

That's why the American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF) is holding the 5th annual "Sleep Recharges You" High School Video Contest. This contest invites teens to learn about the importance of sleep by creating an original video (between 30 seconds and 2 minutes in length). The first-place prize winner will receive $1,000, split evenly between the contest entrant and his or her school. The winning videos from previous years are very informative (and highly entertaining!). If you work with teens or know a teen who is interested in health, media or just might be excited about entering a fun contest, tell them about this opportunity (that they can put on their college applications!).  

^{The American Sleep Medicine Foundation (ASMF) is a non-profit organization that was established by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) in 1998 to enhance sleep health for all through research, education and humanitarian aid.}

References

1. Maciejewski, D.F., et al., A 5-Year Longitudinal Study on Mood Variability Across Adolescence Using Daily Diaries. Child development, 2015. 86(6): p. 1908-21.
   
2. Bureau of Labor Statistics. American Time Use Survey. US Department of Labor https://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/home.htm ; Temple, J.L., Caffeine use in children: what we know, what we have left to learn, and why we should worry. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, 2009. 33(6): p. 793-806. ; Olini, N., S. Kurth, and R. Huber, The effects of caffeine on sleep and maturational markers in the rat. PloS one, 2013. 8(9): p. e72539.
3. Paruthi, S., et al., Recommended Amount of Sleep for Pediatric Populations: A Consensus Statement of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine. Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2016. 12(6): p. 785-6.
4. Wheaton, A.G., et al., Sleep Duration and Injury-Related Risk Behaviors Among High School Students--United States, 2007-2013. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report, 2016. 65(13): p. 337-41.