Teenagers can't sleep because their rooms are smelly, claims expert

By Mailonline

The smelliness of a teenager's bedroom plays an important role in their sleep deprivation, which also hits their GCSE results. 

Professor of sleep medicine Colin Espie at Oxford University said teenagers will be given guidance on 'bedroom hygiene' as part of a nationwide research into insomnia among youngsters.

'Young people never open their windows, their rooms are never ventilated,' said Espie, according to the Sunday Times.

'The smelly teenager's bedroom is a byproduct of the fact that the room is full of rebreathed air, which is low in oxygen and high in nitrogen. If you keep on rebreathing the same air in a small bedroom that is hot and not ventilated you will wake up with a headache after a poor night's sleep.'

Teenagers will be instructed during sleep lessons to open their bedroom windows and turn the heating down in a bid to improve their sleep. 

The University of Oxford is tracking nearly 32,000 GCSE pupils in more than 100 schools for a year to assess whether a later school start leads to higher grades.

In the study, Year 10 and 11 pupils will be divided into two groups, with one starting school at 10am and the other following the usual school timetable. Both sets of pupils will also receive education on the importance of getting enough sleep.   

Pupils' results will be assessed before the trial and at the end, and comparisons drawn between the late start and normal start time groups. 

Parents and students will be advised to get rid of smartphones and iPads, which emits light that suppresses the normal night-time release of melatonin - a crucial hormone in the body's clock, also known as circadian system.

They will also be advised to make their bedrooms as dark as possible and make sure rooms are tidy and not smelly.  

'It's not therapy but getting teenagers to take responsibility for sleep in the same way as sex education or exercise lessons,' said Espie.

'We won't be giving them a list of 'don'ts' but pointing out the benefits of sleep that are likely to appeal to teenagers — such as making them look more attractive.' 

According to the latest research, teenagers are not properly awake until about 9-10am — two to four hours later than adults — and they learn most in the afternoons.

The study is one of six projects funded by £4m from the Education Endowment Foundation and science charity the Wellcome Trust, looking at how the application of neuroscience can improve teaching and learning in schools. 

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3414317/No-wonder-wake-grumpy-Sleep-expert-says-teenagers-hit-insomnia-hits-exam-grades-rooms-smelly.html