Why longer evenings equal grumpier teens

According to research the more time teenagers spend outside during long summer evenings the less ready they are to go to sleep, leading to a multitude of side effects.

Research shows that teenagers seem to have difficulty adjusting to long summer evenings and lighter mornings, resulting in highly disrupted sleeping patterns which in turn leads to mood swings and fatigue throughout the summer which can even result in weight gain.

An increased exposure to sunlight causes the body to halt its production of chemical nocturnal melatonin, which causes tiredness. This means teenagers put off going to bed by long periods of time as they don’t feel tired enough of ready for bed.

This problem is only further heightened when they are then woken in the early hours by the earlier sunrise.

This all contributes to many teenagers feeling exhaustion over the summer, a feeling which is more often than not reflected in school work and puts them at a higher risk of obesity, which has also been linked to sleep deprivation.

Experts have said that in order to avoid this downward slope, teenagers should try to increase daylight exposure in the mornings and decrease exposure in the evenings to ensure they will get a sufficient amount of sleep before beginning school.

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Written by Emma Hilton
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Written by Emma Hilton
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