Charge Your Brainzzz: Evaluation of an Integrated Approach to Improve Teenagers' Sleep Health
Charge Your Brainzzz: Evaluation of an Integrated Approach to Improve Teenagers' Sleep Health
Poor sleep among teenagers is a major public health issue. Studies show that in the Netherlands, nearly half of adolescents don't wake up feeling rested, one in five feel sleepy during the day, one in four regularly wake up at night, 65% rate their own sleep quality as poor, and 43% sleep less than the recommended 8-10 hours per night. Over the past decade, teenagers' average sleep time has dropped by about 40 minutes.
Good sleep health means having a regular sleep rhythm with about 8-10 hours of quality sleep each night. This is crucial, because poor sleep in teenagers can lead to problems with thinking, learning, concentration, and school performance. In the long run, it also increases the risk of serious health issues such as anxiety, depression, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even dementia.
Because of these risks, schools, municipalities, and public health services are calling for effective ways to prevent sleep problems among teenagers. The Dutch "Healthy School" program has recently added sleep as a core theme, but proven, practical interventions are still lacking.
To address this gap, the Charge Your Brainzzz (CYB) program was developed. CYB is a comprehensive approach designed to help secondary school students improve their sleep and mental well-being. It is based on the Healthy School framework and includes all four pillars: education, environment, policy, and early detection.
In 2024, a pilot study tested the CYB approach for its initial effectiveness and suitability. Early results showed positive changes in sleep outcomes and strong appreciation from both schools and students. However, before CYB can be rolled out nationwide, more evidence is needed on its effectiveness, fit with schools, and how it can be sustained over time.
That's why this project will conduct a large-scale evaluation of both the impact of CYB and the processes needed for successful implementation. Alongside the effectiveness study, a practical roadmap will be co-created with schools, Healthy School Advisors, and local coordinators to ensure that CYB can be optimally implemented, sustained, and scaled up across schools, municipalities, and public health services across the Dutch public health landscape.
Poor sleep health among adolescents is a major public health problem. In the Netherlands, nearly half of adolescents report not waking up feeling rested, one in five say they feel sleepy during the day, one in four regularly do not sleep through the night, 65% rate their own sleep quality as poor, and 43% sleep less than the recommended 8-10 hours per night. Over the past ten years, adolescents' average sleep duration has decreased by about 40 minutes.
Sleep health refers to maintaining a regular sleep rhythm of approximately 8-10 hours of good-quality sleep per night. Sleep health is extremely important, because when teenagers sleep poorly, they may experience declines in cognition, learning ability, concentration, and school performance. Moreover, poor sleep in adolescence increases the risk of long-term health problems such as anxiety and depression, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and dementia.
From both research and the practical experience of schools, municipalities, and public health services, there is a strong demand for effective interventions to address these problems through prevention among teenagers. The Dutch "Healthy School" program (Gezonde School) shares this sense of urgency and has recently added sleep as a core theme. However, proven effective interventions for practice are still lacking.
To fill this gap, the integrated Charge Your Brainzzz (CYB) approach was recently developed to support secondary school students in improving their sleep and mental well-being. The approach is based on the Healthy School framework, with well-substantiated applications of all four Healthy School pillars: Education, Environment, Policy, and Early Detection.
In 2024, a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the initial effectiveness and suitability of the CYB approach (Pilot Study results in draft, 2025). Preliminary results from this pilot evaluation showed positive changes in sleep outcomes and strong appreciation from both schools and adolescents. However, before schools, municipalities, and public health services can implement CYB nationwide within the Healthy School framework, it is important to establish clarity about the program's effectiveness, appropriateness, sustainability processes, and, above all, its efficacy. Therefore, a sufficiently large, controlled evaluation study is needed to assess both effectiveness in practice and the processes of implementation and sustainability.
This project will therefore evaluate both the effectiveness as well as the implementation and sustainability processes of the CYB approach. In parallel, a step-by-step plan will be co-created with schools, Healthy School Advisors, and local JOGG coordinators to enable them to implement, sustain, and scale up the CYB approach across schools, municipalities, and public health services.
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