A new study concluded that waking up at 8am leads to sleep deprivation. The authors concluded that a person can not learn to get up at any give time because of our circadian rhythm.
Students should not start classes at least one hour later in the morning. Their start times should be pushed away as they grow. The team of researchers say that at the age of ten, one person should start school at about 8:30 in the morning. At the age of 16 it is indicated that they should start school at 10:00 am, while college students at 11:00 am.
The Oxford University study’s author, Dr. Kelley, said society should take action immediately and change school and work starting times to better fit with our natural body rhythm. If that will be changed soon, the doctor warns that we will end up being a sleep-deprived civilization.
He said that the ideal start time for the natural body clock for individuals between the ages of 17 and 50 is 11:00 am. Which is a bit shocking if you think about it, considering that society disciplined us to waking up at an average 8:00 am. The doctor insisted that this is one of the biggest issues of modern societies and advised that staff should start working at 10:00 am.
The researches concluded that by not respecting the circadian rhythm (which determines what are the sleep/wake patterns over a day period), we are damaging our body. In time, the liver and the heart are the first organs that will start deteriorating because of the stress. Dr. Kelly declared that everybody is suffering when they do not have to and he firmly believes that after further studies his statistics will start to make a difference that would benefit millions of persons.
Indeed, the change will be radical, Kelly admitted, but he promises that the difference will be seen in the increased efficiency that will come with them. He said that by synchronizing the schedules of the students with their natural rhythms, their grades would improve with as much as 10%.
Photo credits: flickr
