The average American teenager gets seven hours of sleep a night, wedging it in between homework, outside activities, dinner and maybe a job. But research suggests teens need more like nine hours…Unfortunately, even their bodies work against them, says Mary Carskadon, a longtime sleep researcher and professor of psychiatry and human behavior at Brown University. As children grow into the middle and teen years, they are naturally inclined to go to bed later and sleep later in the morning. But an early school start time doesn’t allow it.

Read full article: npr.org, “Teens Sleeping Too Much, Or Not Enough? Parents Can Help.”