High school is a tough time for many. With classes, sports, and other extracurricular activites, some students might find themselves too burnt out to concentrate in class. 

A new study finds that lack of sleep not only puts students' grades in jeopardy, but it also puts them at risk of obesity, according to an article on HealthDay.com. Researchers studied more than 10,000 Americans when they were 16 and 21 years old. What they found was that nearly one-fifth of them got less than six hours of sleep a night when they were 16 and were 20 percent more likely to be obese at age 21 than those who got more than eight hours of sleep per night at age 16. 

Lack of sleep in your teenage years can stack the deck against you for obesity later in life," said Shakira Suglia, study author and assistant professor of epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York City. "Once you're an obese adult, it is much harder to lose weight and keep it off. And the longer you are obese, the greater your risk for health problems like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. The message for parents is to make sure their teenagers get more than eight hours a night. A good night's sleep does more than help them stay alert in school. It helps them grow into healthy adults.

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Article by Kassondra Granata, EducationWorld Contributor