KELLER, Texas, March 28 (UPI) -- The school district in Keller, Texas, may push back school start times by more than an hour so students stay more alert.
Administrators in the school district near Fort Worth cite studies showing students are more apt to pay attention later in the day, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. The changes could be implemented in the 2007-08 school year.
A poll released Tuesday by the National Sleep Foundation shows 20 percent of today's youths get the nine hours of sleep recommended by the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research, the Star-Telegram reported.
"Sending students to school without enough sleep is like sending them to school without breakfast," said one expert. "Sleep serves not only a restorative function for adolescents' bodies and brains, but it is also a key time when they process what they've learned during the day."
The National Institute of Health says there is also growing evidence linking a chronic lack of sleep with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and infections.
