It has been believed for a time now that inadequate or poor quality sleep in teens leads to poor performance at school, but it was not until recently that a study confirmed that teenagers with poor sleeping habits do indeed suffer from lower grades.

Here are 10 tips to ensure that a healthy child gets the level of sleep needed to perform well in school.*� Avoid the temptation to take a nap after school. Should you find that you are so tired you are unable to keep your eyes open then go ahead and take a nap but for no more than an hour.*� Do not take any strenuous exercise within several hours of bedtime.

If you want to play soccer or engage in other sports or strenuous activities then do these shortly after finishing school and not an two or three hours before going to bed.*� If you find that you are unable to fall asleep within say 15 minutes of climbing into bed then do not merely lie in bed trying to get to sleep, as the harder you try the more difficult it will get.Instead, climb back out of bed and do something such as listening to some relaxing music or reading a book. As soon as you begin to feel tired, climb back into bed and you will be asleep in next to no time.*�

Avoid the temptation to stay up late finishing your homework or getting ready for a test. Despite the fact that this might seem like the solution to a particular problem in the short term, and may well keep you out of trouble for handing your homework in late or see you through a test, in the longer run your overall performance will drop and any shorter term benefits will soon be lost.*� When it comes to bedtime ensure that the bedroom is quiet, dark and cool.Do not close the room up, turn up the heat and climb into bed to watch TV. Instead, lower the heat, open the window a little if you can to allow in some fresh air and make the room as dark as possible.*� Avoid eating a heavy meal close to going to bed. You certainly do not want to go to bed hungry and taking a light snack before bedtime is fine, but climbing into bed on a full stomach can make it difficult for you to fall asleep and affect your quality of sleep.*� Despite the fact that teenagers will often spend a lot of time in their bedroom turning it into more of a 'living' than a 'sleeping' room, avoid the temptation to use the bed for anything other than sleeping.

Do not sit in bed, playing games, watching TV, reading, writing or anything else but keep it solely for sleeping so that your body associates climbing into bed with going to sleep.*� Make sure that you get up at the same time in the morning, whether or not it is a school day. Teenagers frequently get up late on weekends and in school holidays and, rather than making you feel better, this simply disrupts your pattern of sleep.*� Steer clear of any form of drink containing caffeine after about 3 o�clock in the afternoon. This naturally applies to tea and coffee, but also includes chocolate drinks and colas.*� Decide upon a regular time for going to bed and do not vary this time by more than a matter of a few minutes from day to day.

If you follow these 10 tips you will find that within next to no time your quality of sleep will improve, you will feel more awake and active throughout the day and your grades will improve.

Help-Me-To-Sleep.com looks at various sleep disorders and covers everything from finding an insomnia cure to coping with jet lag