Twenty schools in Denmark are starting school later in the day in an experiment to give teens a sleep boost and improve their mental health.
The country’s National Institute of Public Health has stated that teenagers have a different circadian rhythm than adults and don’t get enough sleep.
According to a report from the National Institute of Public Health, a research foundation in Copenhagen, teenagers should sleep eight to 10 hours a day but almost 60 per cent of 15-year-olds today sleep less than that.
The report contends that this is due to both bodily changes and the use of screens in the evening.
Researchers found that cortisol and melatonin are released later in the day in teenagers than in adults. Melatonin is a hormone that the human body releases at night to induce sleep, and cortisol is a stress hormone that wakes up our body respectively.
According to the principal of Th. Langs Skole in Silkeborg, Tine Agerholm Kristianses, the experiment is a success.
“They sleep better, they sleep longer and they actually have more energy. Not only in the morning but also during the day.”
Source: IceNews
