New research from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health shows that teenagers today are getting less sleep than any generation before them. This lack of sleep causes daily fatigue and reduced functioning, alongside long-term health concerns including poor mental health, academic difficulties and chronic disease later in life.
The researchers used data from Monitoring the Future, an ongoing, nationally representative survey of more than 400,000 U.S. students in grades 8, 10 and 12 between 1991 and 2023. In the survey, teens answered two key questions: how often they got at least seven hours of sleep per night, and how often they felt they were getting enough sleep. Researchers then used advanced statistical models to examine trends over time, across age groups and among different demographic groups.
The study, published in Pediatrics, found:
- Sleep has steadily declined across all age groups. The most recent data showed the lowest sleep levels at every age, with as few as 22% of older teens reporting at least seven hours of sleep per night.
- Sleep disparities are widening. Black and Latino adolescents and those with less-educated parents are increasingly less likely to get sufficient sleep compared with their peers.
- Older teens are hit hardest. Sleep duration consistently decreases with age, as both sleep duration and perceived sleep sufficiency drop sharply from early to late adolescence.
"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, with today's adolescents getting less rest than any generation before them," said Rachel Widome, a lead author and professor in the School of Public Health. "The widening gaps we're seeing by race and socioeconomic status also suggest that sleep is becoming another area where inequities take hold early in life. Teen sleep is increasingly becoming a public health crisis, and without broader structural changes, we risk setting up a generation of young people for long-term challenges in health, learning and overall well-being."
Though there is not one single solution to this problem on a national level, the researchers recommend structural solutions that can reach large numbers of teens. One of the most effective is delaying school start times, which has been shown to increase sleep duration by better aligning with adolescents' biological clocks.
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.
About the School of Public Health
The University of Minnesota School of Public Health improves the health and wellbeing of populations and communities around the world by bringing innovative research, learning, and concrete actions to today's biggest health challenges. We prepare some of the most influential leaders in the field, and partner with health departments, communities, and policymakers to advance health equity for all. Learn more at sph.umn.edu.
