Poor sleep can lead to poor grades

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(NC)—Good grades are not just a result of healthy study habits. A healthy lifestyle, including getting a good night's sleep, can play a large part in grades.

Studies show that sleep-deprived students scored an average of seven points lower than well-rested students on standardized tests. They also show that even a short reduction in sleep time—as little as 15 minutes—can have detrimental impact on academic performance.

According to Dr. Nick Whitehead, founder and CEO of Oxford Learning, there are cognitive repercussions from a poor night's sleep.

“It's not just an issue of kids being sleepy or tired in the classroom. A poor night's sleep means that the brain isn't moving the information it learned during the day into long-term memory, which means kids are forgetting what they are learning,” he says.

According to Dr. Whitehead, while kids are learning in class, different brain areas absorb and temporarily hold the information they are learning, but during sleep that information is processed and relocated to permanent storage areas.

“While parents might think that taking naps is the opposite of learning, sleep can actually help students improve how they learn.”

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