Extending sleep time by no more than 20 minutes a night was associated with better grades for elementary students, finds a small study in the journal Sleep Medicine.
Researchers from McGill University in Montreal tracked the sleep habits of 74 students who participated in a six-week, school-based program on sleep health. Then they compared the results with those for students who did not take part. Besides providing lessons for students, the program included teacher and parent training.
Students who participated slept on average 18 minutes more each night than did a control group not involved in the program.
The study also found that those who averaged at least 91 minutes of extra sleep each week had significantly higher math and reading grades on their subsequent report cards.
