Research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health indicates that today’s teenagers are sleeping less than any previous generation. This reduction in sleep contributes to daily fatigue, diminished functioning, and long-term health issues such as poor mental health, academic struggles, and chronic diseases later in life.
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The study analyzed data from Monitoring the Future, a long-term national survey involving over 400,000 U.S. students in grades 8, 10, and 12 collected between 1991 and 2023. The survey focused on two main questions: the frequency of obtaining at least seven hours of sleep per night and the perception of whether teens were getting enough sleep. Advanced statistical models were then used to assess trends across age and demographic groups.
Published in the journal Pediatrics, the study highlights that sleep among teenagers has progressively declined over all age groups. The latest data indicates that only 22% of older teens reported achieving at least seven hours of sleep per night.
Additionally, disparities in sleep duration are becoming more pronounced. Black and Latino adolescents, as well as those from less-educated households, are increasingly at a disadvantage in obtaining sufficient sleep compared to their peers. The study finds that older teens are the most affected, with sleep quantity and perceived sufficiency notably decreasing from early to late adolescence.
Rachel Widome, a lead author and professor at the School of Public Health, emphasized the alarming trend, stating, "What’s striking is not just that teens aren’t getting enough sleep — it’s how steadily sleep has declined over more than three decades. The widening gaps by race and socioeconomic status suggest that sleep is becoming another area of early life inequities. Teen sleep is increasingly becoming a public health crisis, risking long-term challenges in health and well-being for the next generation."
While there is no single solution to address this issue nationwide, researchers advocate for systemic changes that could positively impact many teens. Delaying school start times has been shown to effectively increase sleep duration by aligning better with adolescents’ natural biological patterns.
Funding for the study was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, with additional support from the Minnesota Population Center and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.