About 10% of Families Face "Earlier" School Start Times in the New Term, While ~70% of Parents Note Children's "Difficulty Waking Up"

In the new academic year, environmental changes due to moving up a grade or entering a new school are significant. With many parents feeling anxious about fluctuations in daily rhythms, the Orthostatic Dysregulation Improvement Association conducted a "Survey on School Start Times and Morning Waking in the New Term" among 149 parents of children ranging from upper elementary to high school. The results highlighted the reality that approximately 70% of children face the issue of "not being able to wake up smoothly in the morning," and about 1 in 3 parents feel anxious about their life in the new school year. In particular, only 2% of families consider "consulting a medical institution" as a countermeasure for morning troubles, revealing a current situation where the underlying possibility of the physical illness "Orthostatic Dysregulation (OD)" is easily overlooked.

Survey Background
Spring is a season of drastic environmental changes such as entering school and class shuffling, and it is also a time when the autonomic nervous system is easily disrupted by temperature differences and atmospheric pressure changes. During this period, many children complain of ailments such as "unable to wake up in the morning" and "feeling sluggish," but many parents tend to perceive these as "new term tension" or "spring sleepiness." However, in many cases, "Orthostatic Dysregulation (OD)," a physical illness unique to puberty, is hidden behind these symptoms. This survey was conducted to visualize the awareness of parents and the actual conditions of children heading into the new term, thereby conveying the importance of proper understanding and early response.

Survey Summary
- About 13% of families will have an "earlier" school start time in the new year.
- Approximately 34% of parents answered that they are "anxious" about the school start time in the new year.
- Only about 30% of children can wake up smoothly in the morning, while about 70% have some kind of difficulty waking up.
- The most common countermeasure for "not being able to wake up" is "strict early bedtime (22.8%)." Meanwhile, only 1.9% consider "seeing a doctor."
- About 20% of parents "know well" about "Orthostatic Dysregulation." Even if they know the name, they have not reached a detailed understanding.

Detailed Data
Q1: Will your child's school start time change from the new academic year?
- Same as now: 75.8%
- Earlier than now: 13.5%
- Don't know yet: 6.0%
- Later than now: 4.7%

-> It was found that the school start time will be earlier in slightly over 10% of families. Moving the start time forward puts significant pressure on securing sleep time and morning preparations.

Q2: Regarding the school start time in the new academic year, is there anxiety...