My teenager is always tired – how can I get him to sleep more? Dr Zoe Williams answers your health questions

BONFIRE night is this weekend, and many people will have plans.

But it’s worth noting that people with asthma, bronchitis or heart problems are advised to enjoy the fireworks from inside where it is safer.

The Sun

Most parents know how to keep children safe.

But as a reminder, make sure you use sparklers in an open space, light one at a time at arm’s length, and don’t give any to those under the age of five.

Make sure your child is wearing gloves to reduce burn risks and that there is a bucket of water nearby.

Roughly 550 kids go to A&E in the month around bonfire night every year.

Don’t let it be yours!

Here’s a selection of what readers asked me this week . . . 

 Q) MY teenage son is always tired. He goes to bed around 11pm and has to get up at 7am for school but I worry if he’s getting enough sleep.

 A) It’s recommended that teenagers have around eight to ten hours of sleep each night. But research shows that most teenagers aren’t managing to get enough.

There are lots of potential reasons for this, with stress and screens among the leading causes of sleep disruption.

Then things like extra-curricular activities or after-school jobs impact the ­opportunity to sleep.

But there is a very important and often not well-understood biological reason that impacts the sleep of teenagers specifically.

During puberty, the body’s internal clock (circadian rhythm) shifts.

This means that teenagers will naturally want to fall asleep later, and therefore wake up later than adults.

Unfortunately society is not designed to support this, and just like in your son’s case, the early start to the school day ­forces teenagers to get up earlier than their own biology desires.

Studies have found melatonin (the sleep hormone) doesn’t get produced until later at night in teens when compared to adults.

So even if you send your teenager to rest earlier, they may not be able to fall asleep.

Asking them to sleep at 10pm can be like asking an adult to go to bed at 8pm.

Many sleep scientists advise that teenagers would do better and feel better if the school day started and ended later.

I agree the science does support this.

Some schools have even tried it out and guess what? The teenagers thrive.

There are some telltale signs of sleep deprivation.

Is your son finding it hard to focus at school? Is he prone to mood swings? Does he have dark circles under his eyes?

When you wake him in the morning, do you have to remind him more than once or twice to get out of bed and does he get irritable first thing too?

These are all signs he could be sleep-deprived and needs a bit more rest.

Therefore, when teenagers want to lie in at the weekend, we shouldn’t view them as lazy, because this is their only opportunity to catch up on that sleep deficit.

It’s also worth looking at his diet too, as that can contribute to feeling tired and lethargic.

Is he getting plenty of fruit and vege­tables in his diet? Is he eating processed and ultra-processed foods?

I know a lot of teens can be prone to popping into the shops and stocking up on foods that are ultra-processed like crisps, chocolate bars and energy drinks.

Also, he should ideally be off all screens at least an hour before bed — which might sound unlikely for a teenager, so maybe start with a shorter amount of time.

Encourage a good bedtime routine — a warm bath or shower, low lighting, and anything else he finds relaxing before he actually goes to sleep.

 Q) MY fitness tracker keeps alerting me to abnormal activity. What should I do?

 Fitness trackers are wonderful things. They help us monitor how we sleep, how we exercise, our resting heart rate, our stress levels, the calories we’ve burned, how many steps we’ve taken and lots more.

The fact your fitness tracker has flagged potentially abnormal activity is definitely something that should be followed up.

If you’re confident there’s nothing wrong with the tracker — after checking the software is up to date and other users aren’t complaining of glitches — I would suggest making an appointment with your GP.

Take screenshots of the abnormal activity. Depending on what the alerts are, your GP may want to examine you. If you’re over 40 you’re entitled to a free NHS health check. If you’re under 40 you can get your blood pressure checked at many pharmacies without an appointment.

There does come a time when you can track things too much, I think.

It might also be time to reconsider your relationship with your fitness tracker if you’re constantly checking it or stressing about how it will impact your metrics.

I’m an ambassador for tech company Garmin and I love its body battery feature, which amalgamates all of the data to simply give you a score out of 100.