February 10, 2012

Science Daily/Brigham Young University

Whether or not you know any high school students that actually get nine hours of sleep each night, that's what U.S. federal guidelines currently prescribe.

As they report in the Eastern Economics Journal, the right amount of sleep decreases with age:

·      The optimal for 10-year-olds is 9 -- 9.5 hours

·      The optimal for 12-year-olds is 8 -- 8.5 hours

·      The optimal for 16-year-olds is 7 hours

"We don't look at it just from a 'your kid might be sleeping too much' perspective," Eide said. "From the other end, if a kid is only getting 5.5 hours of sleep a night because he's overscheduled, he would perform better if he got 90 minutes more each night."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120210110510.htm