As I write this blog, I feel the need to apologize to all the teens whose parents might read it. Breaking a cardinal rule of a good apology, let me say I truly apologize, but sleep matters. (Never include a “but” in the apology. Oh wait, never say never. Anyway, back to the topic of sleep.) Using data collected in a longitudinal study in the UK and China, researchers divided 3,222 adolescents into three groups.

• Group One slept an average of 7 hours and 10 minutes a night.
• Group Two slept and average of 7 hours and 21 minutes a night.
• Group Three slept an average of 7 hours and 25 minutes a night.

As you can see, the sleep time between Group One and Group Three only varied 14 minutes. Although none of the three groups got the recommended hours of sleep (8-10 hours a night), those who went to bed earlier had the longest sleep times in this study. Most interestingly, those adolescents who experienced just 14 minutes more sleep time exhibited better brain functioning and higher cognitive test performance. They also had the lowest heart rates across sleep states, which is generally indicative of better physical health as well.

Think about that. Just 14 minutes of extra sleep improved brain functioning and ability to perform on cognitive tests (which can be translated into school exams, problem-solving, memory, etc.). So, I apologize to the teens out there, but sleep is important…and so is your health…and really, they go together.