New Report: U.S. Teens Say They Are Sleep-Deprived and Stressed

CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 9, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- American teens say they are not getting enough sleep and they are feeling the weight of stress according to a teen-led research study of nearly 1,000 youth ages 13 to 19. The news comes as part of the Teens Take on Health report released by National 4-H Council and Molina Healthcare at the 4-H Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill today. The first of its kind, the report is the culmination of a teen-led, health-focused research initiative that spanned 15 months.

According to the report, American teens are thinking just as much about their emotional and mental health as they are about their physical health, indicating they see health as holistic—mind, body and soul. Other key report insights include:

• Obesity is top of mind for American youth, just as it is top of mind for health providers, public health officials and parents. Teens said they knew they and their families needed to eat healthier, drink more water and exercise more to prevent and reduce obesity.
• Youth are paying attention to health care access issues. Teens were also sophisticated enough to recognize that they and their families needed access to health care, that health care costs are high and that health insurance is important. Notably, teens also recognized that policymakers played an important role in supporting them, their families and their communities in their efforts to live healthier.
• Youth are sleep-deprived and stressed. Perhaps one of the most resounding themes, which emerged across all racial, ethnic and economic groups, is that teens reported they weren't getting enough sleep, needed help managing and reducing stress and were concerned about mental health needs in their communities.

The Teens Take on Health initiative began in 2012 with 4-H teen leaders mobilizing their peers in a series of engagement forums, including a social media survey, video response campaign and town hall meetings across the country. University of Maryland School of Public Health researchers Dr. Bonnie Braun and Dr. Virginia Brown conducted a qualitative, thematic analysis of the feedback youth shared and identified key themes in the Teens Take on Health report.

"We (young leaders) participated in every critical phase of this study -- from helping with research questions and leading the dialogue to confirming the themes -- so we are taking seriously teen concerns about sleep, stress, obesity and health care access," said Andrea Vessel, youth trustee, National 4-H Council Board of Trustees; member, 4-H Healthy Living Youth Management Team; and student, American University.

Recent studies support the report findings about the sleep-stress-health connection among America's youth, including:

• CDC reports only 31 percent of high school students get the recommended eight hours of sleep on an average school night. (CDC Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey)
• Sleep-related problems affect 25 to 40 percent of children and adolescents. (Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics)
• Nearly 1 in 5 teens (18 percent) say that when they do not get enough sleep, they are more stressed. (American Psychological Association)

"It really is a vicious cycle: sleep-deprivation leads to stress in school, including daytime drowsiness and poor school performance; emotional and mental stress, such as depression and mood problems; physical health problems, including obesity; and high-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse and drowsy driving," said Dr. Martha Molina Bernadett, family physician and founder, Molina Foundation. "Since my father founded Molina Healthcare as a result of his experiences as an ER physician in the late 70s, the company has been committed to meeting the health needs of the most vulnerable and underserved communities. We partnered with 4-H because it is an organization founded on the premise that young people and the audiences we serve are a priority."

"For more than 100 years, 4-H youth have been on the front lines of providing real-world solutions to urgent priorities, such as the health of our nation. It was only natural that this partnership with Molina Healthcare was birthed out of our organizations' shared commitment to engaging young people as assets to drive positive change," said Jennifer Sirangelo, president and CEO, National 4-H Council. "The next phase of Teens Take on Health will include collaborating with Molina and 4-H youth to assess implications for school and public health policies, as well as for 4-H programming ."

To begin engaging teens on solutions to the sleep-stress-health problem raised in this report, National 4-H Council and Molina Healthcare convened about 100 teens at a Teens Take on Health Action Summit during National 4-H Conference on Saturday, April 5, 2014.  During the Action Summit, teens proposed school policy recommendations such as later school start time and time management classes in course curricula; public health guidelines focused on energy drink consumption among young; and programming and youth development solutions focused on timing for after-school and extracurricular programs.

The full Teens Take on Health report is available at www.4-h.org/teenstakeonhealth, along with an infographic on the problem of the sleep-stress-health connection among U.S. teens.

About 4-H
4-H is a community of seven million young people around the world learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. National 4-H Council is the private sector, non-profit partner of the Cooperative Extension System and 4-H National Headquarters located at the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the United States, 4-H programs are implemented by the 109 land-grant universities and Cooperative Extension through more than 3,000 local offices serving every county and parish in the country. Outside the United States, 4-H programs operate through independent, country-led organizations in more than 50 countries.

Learn more about 4-H at www.4-H.org, or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/4-H and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/4H.

About Molina Healthcare
Molina Healthcare is focused on providing solutions for government-funded health programs. The company began in 1980, when Dr. C. David Molina cut the cost and raised the quality of health care for patients who'd been going to the ER for primary treatment, by opening a community clinic. Today, Molina Healthcare serves approximately 2.1 million members across 11 states through its health plans. The combined effort of Molina's health plans, clinics and information systems simplify access to health care, empowering 5.3 million lives around the country. For more information, visit  www.molinahealthcare.com.

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SOURCE National 4-H Council