Sleep is both a health resource and a risk factor.
Sleep deprivation is also caused by social framework conditions.
Political action is needed:
Goal: systematically strengthen sleep health and, in the long term, safeguard health, education, and productivity.
Sleep disorders cost Switzerland’s healthcare system and economy around CHF 15 billion per year. Sleep problems in childhood and adolescence are an early risk factor for later health, social, and economic burdens.
Problem
Sleep problems are among the earliest warning signs of later mental illness.
Switzerland invests heavily in treating mental disorders in adults—yet prevention in adolescence is far more effective and cost-efficient, because the brain (and therefore behavior) is in a particularly sensitive and thus malleable developmental phase.
Restorative sleep as an important health resource for mental well-being.
Sleep education reduces long-term pressure on healthcare, social, and education systems.
Sleep deprivation does not affect children and adolescents equally
Socially disadvantaged families are more often affected by unfavorable living conditions (noise, cramped spaces, sense of safety), irregular working hours, and high family and social stress—all factors that have been shown to affect children’s and adolescents’ sleep.
Unfavorable sleep conditions therefore amplify social inequality.
Restorative sleep is an important health resource for equal opportunities.
Sleep disorders often also mean sleep deprivation.
Biologically, children and adolescents need more sleep than adults. This is important for their brain development. Sleep deprivation reduces attention, learning ability, and self-regulation—basic prerequisites for (school) learning.
Early school start times systematically disadvantage adolescents for biological reasons.
Differences in performance therefore arise not only from motivation or support, but from structural conditions.
Sleep as a prerequisite for educational success.
Sleep deprivation in adolescents is a safety risk.
These consequences cause significant societal costs—alongside personal suffering. Chronic sleep deprivation increases the risk of accidents and injuries (e.g., in road traffic, sports, at work) as well as risky behavior. Attention, impulse control, and decision-making ability are measurably impaired—even when no tiredness is perceived subjectively.
Chronic sleep deprivation is a risk factor that causes avoidable societal costs.
Sleep deprivation today means tomorrow’s workforce will be burdened in terms of health and cognition.
Chronic sleep deprivation in childhood and adolescence impairs brain development, learning, and self-regulation and increases long-term risks of mental and physical illness.
This weakens key cognitive and psychosocial skills—the foundations of future human capital.
The effects extend into working life: reduced performance, lower resilience, higher accident risk, and reduced productivity. This undermines not only individual health, but also the innovation and competitiveness of an economy in the long term.
Sleep health in early life is a key investment in productivity and location quality—and therefore in society’s future viability.
Childhood and adolescence are critical developmental windows.
Deficits in this phase can only be compensated for to a limited extent later on.
Sustainable policy means investing early instead of bearing later repair costs.
Strengthen sleep health—now. For education, mental stability, and a healthy future.
Causes of sleep deprivation include:
A current Swiss study confirms: flexible school start times counteract chronic sleep deprivation in adolescents and have a positive effect on well-being and academic performance.
Sleep deprivation is a systemic problem—and needs solutions at the societal level.
References
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