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The Star
19-05-2025
- Health
- The Star
Most teens don't get enough sleep, so a school in the US is teaching them how to
The topic of a new course at Mansfield Senior High School is one that teenagers across the country are having trouble with: How to get to sleep. One ninth grader in the class says his method is to scroll through TikTok until he nods off. Another teen says she often falls asleep while on a late-night group chat with friends. Not everyone takes part in class discussions on a Friday; some students are slumped over their desks napping. 'It might sound odd to say that kids in high school have to learn the skills to sleep,' says Mansfield health teacher Tony Davis, who has incorporated a newly released sleep curriculum into a state-required high school health class. 'But you'd be shocked how many just don't know how to sleep.' Adolescents burning the midnight oil is nothing new; teens are biologically programmed to stay up later as their circadian rhythms shift with puberty. But studies show teenagers are more sleep deprived than ever, and experts believe it could be playing a role in the youth mental health crisis and other problems plaguing schools, including behavioural and attendance issues. 'Walk into any high school in America and you will see kids asleep. Whether it's on a desk, outside on the ground or on a bench, or on a couch the school has allotted for naps – because they are exhausted,' says Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Education. Pope has surveyed high school students for more than a decade and leads parent sessions for schools around California on the importance of teen sleep. 'Sleep is directly connected with mental health. There is not going to be anyone who argues with that.' Adolescents need between eight and 10 hours of sleep each night for their developing brains and bodies. But nearly 80% of teens get less than that, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has tracked a steady decline in teen sleep since 2007. Today, most teens average six hours of sleep. Research increasingly shows how tightly sleep is linked to mood, mental health and self-harm. Depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts and behaviour go up as sleep goes down. Multiple studies also show links between insufficient sleep and sports injuries and athletic performance, teen driving accidents, and risky sexual behaviour and substance use, due in part to impaired judgement when the brain is sleepy. Mansfield Senior High School senior Talitha Cameron, 18, listens during her health class on sleep. Photo: PHIL LONG/AP 'Sleep intervention' For years, sleep experts have sounded an alarm about an adolescent sleep crisis and as a result, some school districts have shifted to later start times. California and Florida have passed laws that require high schools to start no earlier than 8.30am. But simply telling a teenager to get to bed earlier doesn't always work, as any parent can attest: They need to be convinced. That's why Mansfield City Schools is staging what it calls 'a sleep intervention.' The district's high school is piloting the new curriculum, 'Sleep to be a better you,' hoping to improve academic success and reduce chronic absences, when a student misses more than 10% of the school year. The rate of students missing that much class has decreased from 44% in 2021 but is still high at 32%, says Kari Cawrse, the district's attendance coordinator. Surveys of parents and students highlighted widespread problems with sleep, and an intractable cycle of kids going to bed late, oversleeping, missing the school bus and staying home. The students in Davis' classroom shared insights into why it's hard to get a good night's sleep. An in-class survey of the 90 students across Davis' five classes found over 60% use their phone as an alarm clock. Over 50% go to sleep while looking at their phones. Experts have urged parents for years to get phones out of the bedroom at night, but national surveys show most teens keep their mobile phones within reach – and many fall asleep holding their devices. During the six-part course, students are asked to keep daily sleep logs for six weeks and rate their mood and energy levels. Freshman Nathan Baker assumed he knew how to sleep, but realises he had it all wrong. Bedtime meant settling into bed with his phone, watching videos on YouTube or Snapchat Spotlight and often staying up past midnight. On a good night, he got five hours of sleep. He'd feel so drained by midday that he'd get home and sleep for hours, not realising it was disrupting his nighttime sleep. 'Bad habits definitely start around middle school, with all the stress and drama,' Baker says. He has taken the tips he learned in sleep class and been amazed at the results. He now has a sleep routine that starts around 7pm or 8pm: He puts away his phone for the night and avoids evening snacks, which can disrupt the body's circadian rhythm. He tries for a regular bedtime of 10pm, making sure to close his curtains and turn off the TV. He likes listening to music to fall asleep but has switched from his previous playlist of rousing hip hop to calmer R&B or jazz, on a stereo instead of his phone. 'I feel a lot better. I'm coming to school with a smile on my face,' says Baker, who is now averaging seven hours' sleep each night. 'Life is so much more simple.' There are scientific reasons for that. Studies with MRI scans show the brain is under stress when sleep-deprived and functions differently. There is less activity in the prefrontal cortex, which regulates emotions, decision making, focus and impulse control and more activity in the emotional centre of the brain, the amygdala, which processes fear, anger and anxiety. Parents and teens themselves often aren't aware of the signs of sleep deprivation, and attribute it to typical teen behaviour: Being irritable, grumpy, emotionally fragile, unmotivated, impulsive or generally negative. Think of toddlers who throw temper tantrums when they miss their naps. 'Teenagers have meltdowns, too, because they're tired. But they do it in more age-appropriate ways,' says Kyla Wahlstrom, an adolescent sleep expert at the University of Minnesota, who has studied the benefits of delayed school start times on teen sleep for decades. Wahlstrom developed the free sleep curriculum being used by Mansfield and several Minnesota schools. Ignoring the coversation Social media has been blamed for fuelling the teen mental health crisis, but many experts say the national conversation has ignored the critical role of sleep. 'The evidence linking sleep and mental health is a lot tighter, more causal, than the evidence for social media and mental health,' says Andrew Fuligni, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles, and co-director at UCLA's Center for the Developing Adolescent. Nearly 70% of Davis' Mansfield students said they regularly feel sleepy or exhausted during the school day. But technology is hardly the only reason. Today's students are overscheduled, overworked and stressed out, especially as they get closer to senior year and college applications. Chase Cole, a senior at Mansfield who is taking three advanced placement and honours classes, is striving for an athletic scholarship to play soccer in college. He plays on three different soccer leagues and typically has practice until 7pm, when he gets home and needs a nap. Cole wakes up for dinner, then dives into homework for at least three hours. He allows for five-minute phone breaks between assignments and winds down before bed with video games or TV until about 1am. 'I definitely need to get more sleep at night,' says Cole, 17. 'But it's hard with all my honours classes and college stuff going on. It's exhausting.' There aren't enough hours in the day to sleep, says sophomore Amelia Raphael, 15. A self-described overachiever, Raphael is taking physics, honours chemistry, algebra and trigonometry and is enrolled in online college classes. Her goal is to finish her associate degree by the time she graduates high school. 'I don't want to have to pay for college. It's a lot of money,' says Raphael, who plays three sports and is in student council and other clubs. She knows she's overscheduled. 'But if you don't do that, you're kind of setting yourself up for failure. There is a lot of pressure on doing everything,' said Raphael, who gets to bed between midnight and 2am. 'I am giving up sleep for that.' – AP
USA Today
15-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Olympian Simone Manuel faced questions as a Black swimmer. Her journey is helping others
Olympian Simone Manuel faced questions as a Black swimmer. Her journey is helping others Show Caption Hide Caption Watch Tori Penso share the toughest situation as a soccer referee Tori Penso knows it's tough to be a referee in soccer, and shares how she deals with it as a woman in a male soccer league. Sports Seriously Simone Manuel will be at the grocery store, and someone might stop her and ask: "What sport do you do?" 'Sometimes I entertain them a little bit and I let them guess,' she says with a slight laugh, 'and swimming is never their guess. When I end up telling them I swim, I kind of get some crazy eyes. I've gotten laughed at. I've gotten, 'There's no way that you're a good swimmer,' even though they look at my build.' "Actually," she will tell them, "I've won Olympic medals." Manuel was 20 in 2016 when she became the first Black woman to win an individual gold at Olympic swimming. Nearly 10 years later, she sometimes still feels dragged down by the heft and responsibility of the moment, and she still faces the stereotypes that are assigned to her race and sport. "The most common one is that Black people can't swim," Manuel tells USA TODAY Sports. "I still hear that to this day, unfortunately. I've gotten comments from the Black community as well that we can't swim." Manuel, 28, has won seven Olympic and 16 world championship swimming medals. She is seeking more, but spoke of another opportunity ahead of International Water Safety Day on Wednesday. In 2023, Manuel launched the Simone Manuel Foundation, with a goal of increasing opportunities and water safety in communities of color. "It's about bringing swimming into spaces where people may not feel like they're welcome, or they may not even feel like it's an avenue for them to pursue,' she says. According to a report by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released last May, nearly 64% of Black children have little to no swimming ability. The statistic is decades in the making, reflecting America's long history of racial intolerance at pools that conflicted a little girl in Sugar Land, Texas. "I began to question if swimming was the sport for me,' Manuel says. She shared how getting her mind around her identity within her sports was a process filled with doubt. But she has acquired lessons from an often-excruciating athletic journey that might help parents and young athletes. (Questions and responses are edited for length and clarity.) Validating emotions can build a stronger athlete Manuel tried other sports, but something came alive inside of her when she got in the pool. The water not only cooled her from the sweltering Texas heat, but filled her with confidence, pushing her up into training groups with older swimmers. Then a voice in her head told her she should quit. Sharron and Marc Manuel helped their daughter understand what she was hearing. Sharron also would scroll the Internet with her young daughter, pulling up photos of past Black swimming champions like Olympic silver medalist Maritza Correia McClendon. USA TODAY: How did your parents support you in swimming? Simone Manuel: I think the biggest tangible thing was just continuing to allow me to be authentically myself, to continue to validate my experiences as a Black woman in this sport. Being one of a few is a really tough journey, and I know that as parents, they dealt with their own experiences and they were able to recognize that my journey was gonna be unlike other swimmers' just because of, unfortunately, the color of my skin. So a lot of their support came from encouraging me. When I would come home from practice and tell them, "Oh, someone said this," or, "This happened,' that alone helped me feel empowered. It allowed me to (feel) that I wasn't crazy, that what I was experiencing was real, but then to use that as motivation to continue to fight for my goals and dreams. Sports unify the world, but often isolate the athlete When you swim, you spend a lot of time by yourself in the water, propelling toward the wall and not knowing if you will get there first. After Manuel touched the wall in Rio in 2016 to win the 100-meter freestyle, she realized how solitary a sport it can be. USAT: You have felt pressure to be an example. Can you expand on that? SM: I found out that I made history when I did the interview. At that moment, I just was trying to win a medal, but then for that moment to be really historic, nobody can prepare you for that. I think it was, in some sense, a heavy weight that I wasn't prepared for. It's not like I dive in a pool every day and I'm like, "I want to be the best Black swimmer.' I want to be the best swimmer that I can be. I can inspire my community (and) people beyond my community who may not feel like they fit into whatever particular endeavor that they want to pursue, but there is pressure that comes with it. I have learned that I will be my best when I focus on trying to be the best Simone, and that comes with my competition, with my advocacy. And the rest, even if it feels lonely at times, it's really important for me to just try to stay true to myself. It's really important for me to continue to compete and do what I love to do, because hopefully there's a young Black child watching me on TV, and they look at the screen and they say, 'Hey mom, hey dad, I want to learn how to swim too.' Again, a supportive family can make all the difference. Manuel's older brothers played college basketball, Chris at Oklahoma Christian and Ryan at SMU. 'They always would encourage me,' she says. 'They would ask me to come out and play, but they would show no mercy (laughs), and I appreciated that. I didn't need them to take it easy on me. I had to take a couple of elbows and maybe lose by 20 points. But I mean, beyond that, they're like my biggest supporters. 'At the end of the day, I'm just their little sister. It reminds me that I am a swimmer, but it's not who I completely am.' It takes courage to believe in yourself when you don't fit the mold Public pools dominated the American landscape for much of the 20th Century. These could be intimate spaces shared by friends and competitors, but also ones charged with racial strife. Federal judges began declaring pool segregation unconstitutional before the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, but waves of American communities pushed back in the 1950s and 1960s. Instead of complying with desegregation, they closed pools, affecting generations of potential Black swimmers. 'And then on top of that, you have the rise of private pools, country clubs, people no longer going to public pools and having the access,' Manuel says. 'The accessibility to backyard pools, in the Black community, is not something that we typically had in the past. Discrimination and racism have created these consequences.' USAT: What was it like growing up in a primarily white sport? SM: I didn't feel like I fit in. I think it's kind of normal to, at a young age, look around and not see other people that look like you. I don't see any other Black children doing this, but when I'm on the soccer field, I see them. When I'm on the volleyball court, I see them. When I play basketball, I see them. So I really began to question if it was a sport group that I could be good at and successful in. But I think on top of that, just some of the experiences, some of the comments from teammates, parents, that make you doubt yourself, tacked on with what you're already feeling, makes it very difficult to feel like the pool is a welcoming space. I had supportive coaches who helped a lot with that. I learned that it was really important for me to own my dream, and that, unfortunately, this was a journey that I was going to have to go on. I was going to have to deal with these obstacles. We all do in life, and this was one of them that I had to hopefully conquer. USAT: What would you say to young swimmers who look up to you? SM: Believe in the power of your dreams. Believe in yourself and don't let anyone keep you from pursuing your passion, because if it's yours, it's for you, and it's not for them to take. 'Drowning epidemic': Swimming can help shed stereotypes Recent CDC data indicates Black children ages 10-14 drown in swimming pools at a rate that is almost eight times higher than white children. "So many people are so terrified of the water," said Naji Ali, a long-distance swimmer who has hosted a podcast promoting swimming in the Black community. He spoke as a featured voice for a 2021 Philadelphia museum exhibit known as 'Pool: A Social History of Segregation.' 'Whether you go in or not, you should know how to swim," he said. "And not just survival swimming, I'm talking where you are comfortable in the water.' The Simone Manuel Foundation seeks better education – through water safety awareness workshops, swim lessons, clinics - in BIPOC (Black, indigenous and people of color) communities. And it offers possibility. USAT: What message do you want to share about the work that you're doing? SM: It would be great to see other Black swimmers on the podium. I don't know if I will see that in my lifetime. But above that, I think it's really about empowering the Black community to learn how to swim, because the drowning epidemic is so staggering. USAT: What has sports done for you and for your life? SM: Sports has allowed me to grow into a stronger, more resilient person. It's given me some of my greatest achievements, but also some of my lowest lows. Sports (is) a microcosm of society, it's a microcosm of life, and the experiences that I've had through have helped me handle difficult situations. I believe that swimming has really given me all the tools to be able to handle whatever comes my way. Coach Steve: What the brash ex-swimmer learned about his career when he lost everything Sports careers often remain 'unfinished,' no matter who we are Manuel says that before Rio, she faced undisclosed 'major health issues' that forced her to significantly modify her training. "There were times where I didn't think I could go any further,' she says. Before Tokyo, she developed overtraining syndrome. She spent six months out of the water recovering from mental and physical exhaustion, depression, anxiety, soreness and other symptoms. She returned to win a bronze in Tokyo and a silver in Paris. She has described her career since Rio as not a comeback but unfinished, a perspective on how sports continue to teach throughout athletes' lives. USAT: You're hoping to compete in Los Angeles in 2028. How is that going? SM: It's probably been the hardest training that I've ever done in my career, but it's been really fun. I'm really excited what hopefully the next four years has to come. My goal is always to win medals. I'm never been someone that sets low goals. But I also think it's really important to be realistic. The last couple years have been really tough for me, so I just want to continue to improve, not put too much pressure on myself, and just see where my results land, and then adjust from there. So it's hard to kind of give a definitive goal when something is four years away. I ultimately see my best results staying in the present. USAT: You said your goal is to be able to compete without the weight of expectations. Do you think you've gotten to that point yet? SM: No, I haven't, unfortunately, I feel like I'm getting there. I'm starting to learn how to swim more for me. I do think it is gonna take some more work on my part, but expectations are good. Hopefully I continue to become more confident in what I've accomplished and what my resume says about me, that I can just step up on the blocks and not feel like I have to prove anything. Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He spent 10 years coaching his two sons' baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents for two high schoolers. His column is posted weekly. For his past columns, click here. Got a question for Coach Steve you want answered in a column? Email him at sborelli@
Newsweek
06-05-2025
- Health
- Newsweek
Backyard Chickens Responsible for Latest Salmonella Outbreak: What To Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Backyard flocks are being blamed for the latest Salmonella outbreak in the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). There have been seven total cases across six states, the CDC said in a press release Monday. Poultry—including chickens, ducks and their eggs—can carry the bacteria that leads to nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Why It Matters The bird flu has already wiped out chickens throughout the nation, leading to soaring egg prices. According to Trading Economics, they peaked in early March at $8.17 a dozen before tipping back down to $3.32 just a month later, on May 6. Many Americans, already grappling with high grocery prices that President Donald Trump vowed to eliminate during his second term, have been trying to avoid the sticker shock by stocking their own flocks in their backyard or buying from chicken owners, but bird flu and salmonella still hold a risk for home grown birds. What To Know The cases the CDC is currently investigating occurred in Florida, Wisconsin, Illinois, South Dakota, Utah, and Missouri, which has two cases. The CDC said those cases likely count towards a larger outbreak, as many people recover without medical intervention. Chickens exit the barn where they were laying eggs on the farm where they are raised as part of the "Rent The Chicken" service in Agua Dulce, California, on April 21, 2025. Chickens exit the barn where they were laying eggs on the farm where they are raised as part of the "Rent The Chicken" service in Agua Dulce, California, on April 21, 2025. PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images Salmonella is a bacterium that settles in human and animal intestinal tracts. It spreads through touch, which is a critical part of owning chickens and picking out their eggs. Symptoms include abdominal cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea which can become severe and require hospitalization, according to the CDC. They can start as soon as six hours or as late as six days after the bacterium is ingested. Those who are ill can recover without treatment or medication within four to seven days but those who have severe symptoms need to seek medical treatment, the CDC advised. Children under the age of five should not handle poultry, the CDC said, as they are more likely to become ill from the bacterium. They also advise people to wash their hands after handling poultry and eggs, and, most importantly: "Don't kiss or snuggle backyard poultry, and don't eat or drink around them." What People Are Saying Whoopi Goldberg responded to Trump's latest move to make movies only in the United States on ABC's The View, saying: "What that equates to is, you're going to tell me how to write the story I want to write if it happens in Europe? Look, could you please lower the price of eggs before you start this?" What Happens Next Health officials will continue to track cases, but those who have their own chickens should follow CDC advice. Eggs should be collected often, dirt should be wiped or washed away, and the eggs should be stored in the firdge. Officials say cold water shouldn't be used to wash eggs because they can pull germs into the eggs. And when you cook your eggs, make sure to burn all germs by cooking at 160°F.
Khaleej Times
17-04-2025
- Health
- Khaleej Times
Colombia declares emergency over yellow fever outbreak
Colombia has declared a national health and economic emergency over a deadly yellow fever outbreak, with the government urging people to get vaccinated and take precautions while traveling over Easter weekend. The mosquito-borne virus, which typically causes fever, muscle pains, nausea and headaches, is endemic to multiple countries in South America, including Colombia, where the current outbreak has had a high mortality rate. At least 34 people have died among 74 confirmed cases since the start of the year, Minister of Health Guillermo Jaramillo told state-run Radio Nacional de Colombia on Wednesday. "It's a disease with a mortality rate of nearly 50% among those infected," he said while explaining the emergency decree. The virus has also spread beyond the rural regions traditionally considered at risk for outbreaks, "making it a threat to more communities," he said. The most severe situation is in the coffee-growing Tolima area, where the number of detected yellow fever cases rose from four in September 2024 to 22 by mid-April, according to Jaramillo. "We are going to require the carrying of the vaccination card for people entering or leaving Colombia," he told the radio station. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro announced an economic emergency on top of the health decree, and called on citizens to get vaccinated. "People who have not been vaccinated should not go to high-risk areas during Easter: for now the coffee area," he wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Petro blamed climate change for further spreading the virus by bringing the disease-carrying Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to higher altitudes. On Tuesday, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) upgraded its yellow fever alert for South America to level two of four, noting "an increased number of cases of yellow fever have been reported in parts of South America." It advised travelers to consider getting vaccinated against yellow fever or receiving booster shots before visiting some areas of Bolivia, Colombia and Peru.
Al Jazeera
01-04-2025
- Health
- Al Jazeera
'Battling information warfare'
Dallas, Texas – Therissa Grefsrud still remembers the email. The COVID-19 pandemic had been raging for nearly a year, and a woman had reached out to ask about vaccines: Would they cause infertility in her or her future children? Grefsrud, a nurse specialised in infection prevention, had heard such concerns before. But studies show no link between infertility and vaccination of any kind. Still, Grefsrud exchanged messages with the woman as she shared her fears. Then she pointed her towards the facts. 'She came to me about a month later and let me know how grateful she was for me making this space without judgement,' Grefsrud said. The woman also shared that she was now vaccinated. Fast forward four years, and Grefsrud is among the healthcare professionals in Texas confronting a new outbreak: measles. The virus is one of the most contagious diseases on the planet. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that, if one person has it, they can infect nine out of 10 people in their vicinity. Vaccination is the only way to prevent the disease, and experts like Grefsrud say empathetic conversations are necessary to raise awareness. But they say rampant disinformation has made those kinds of conversations harder to come by. 'Public health officials aren't skilled in information warfare,' said Jennifer Nuzzo, the director of Brown University's Pandemic Center. 'They have to get people to understand the importance and value of getting vaccinated, but battling information warfare is not what we're taught in public health school.'
