Project SIESTA Promotes Healthy Sleep Habits in Teens

Lata Casturi, RPSGT, a senior sleep technologist at the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) Sleep Center and an Allied Health NetWork member, has been instrumental in guiding an extraordinary community service project that has brought a much needed awareness to the issue of healthy sleep habits for teenagers.

The impetus for the project originated when Anita Rao, a 7th grader, decided to do a science fair project about sleep. She approached Lata and, with input from Dr. Shyam Subramanian, FCCP, the Medical Director of the BCM Sleep Center, they formulated a comprehensive questionnaire that queried the bedtime and sleep habits of early teenagers, as well as their use of electronic media close to bedtime. Anita single-handedly coordinated the administration of this questionnaire to more than 100 middle-school students. The results showed a high prevalence of poor sleep hygiene, primarily due to a technology invasion of the bedroom environment in the early teenagers and a negative correlation with the daytime alertness of these students. Anita won first prize at the district science fair in recognition of her efforts.

Taking these results as a call to action, Lata suggested that Anita start a community education campaign to promote healthy sleep habits among teenagers. The results have been extraordinarily effective and rewarding. Under the mentorship of Lata, a team of six girls and two boys designated themselves as Project SIESTA. (Students Involved in the Education about Sleep hygiene for Teen Adolescents). In 4 months, the School Board endorsed Project SIESTA. The mayor of Houston, Bill White, declared October 30 as Healthy Sleep Day. The project team is promoting their message in many schools in the Houston area. The project has attracted national attention, and Anita Rao presented the findings of the group at the ACCP-Sleep Institute meeting at CHEST 2009.

Dr. Kalpalatha K. Guntupalli, FCCP, ACCP President and Chief of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep section at BCM, says, “It is very gratifying to note that the BCM Sleep Center has been a resource for the Houston community youngsters and schools in promoting healthy sleep habits early in life.” The project is featured on an informational Web site at www.projectsiesta.com.