By Kate Robards, senior writer
When Yash and Sanjay Malhotra, 17 and 14, respectively, walk into an elementary school auditorium, the energy is palpable. As founders of Kids Talk Sleep, a nonprofit they launched to teach children the value of healthy sleep habits, the brothers bring a youthful enthusiasm that resonates with their young audience. Their mission is simple yet impactful: to make sleep “cool” and show how prioritizing it can enhance every aspect of life, from academics to sports performance.
Yash, a high school senior, explained how Kids Talk Sleep evolved from a previous project.
“Earlier on, in middle school for me and elementary school for Sanjay, we started Kids Talk Sports with one of our friends,” he said. “We were doing this over Zoom. We would record videos having sports debates and talking about fantasy football. In our research, we started looking at what players were doing to improve their performance. One of the things was sleep. We had an ‘aha moment’ — we can help our friends and educate other kids.”
The shift to Kids Talk Sleep started with YouTube videos and grew into live presentations.
“We try to focus on connecting with kids through sports, like how Tom Brady goes to sleep at 9 p.m. [most nights],” Yash explained. “If you can do the same, you’re going to improve your athletic performance. Kids Talk Sports gave us experience making videos and seeing what kids like, and we’ve been able to transfer it over.”
The brothers pivoted to focus exclusively on sleep in 2022, incorporating Kids Talk Sleep as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. What started as a series of YouTube videos quickly grew into live school presentations and donation drives. Yash and Sanjay credit their parents for inspiring their passion. Their mother, Dr. Shalini Paruthi, is a sleep physician and advocate. Their father, Dr. Raman Malhotra, a past president of the AASM, is also deeply involved in advancing awareness and education about sleep.
But the heart of Kids Talk Sleep lies in Yash and Sanjay’s ability to connect with their peers. Their presentations to third, fourth and fifth graders are as engaging as they are educational.
Yash explained, “We try to make it fun for them. Our main goal is to get them to remember 10 hours of sleep. So, one of our favorite activities is having them do 10 rounds of the wave.”
The brothers also share tips for real-life challenges, like how to handle sleepovers.
“Obviously, it’s harder to get 10 hours of sleep,” Yash admitted. “But if you can prepare the night before and sleep the night after and try to do as much of your bedtime routine at a friend’s house, that would be the best way.”
Their presentations include relatable examples, often featuring their favorite athletes. They also distribute AASM sleep worksheets to teachers, ensuring the lessons extend beyond the assembly.
While Yash and Sanjay take the lead in presenting for Kids Talk Sleep, their parents are key behind the scenes. They help fine-tune presentations, asking questions and making sure everything is accurate.
The family’s advocacy efforts don’t stop at local schools. Both brothers have participated in lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill alongside their parents. Dr. Malhotra’s work with the AASM and Dr. Paruthi’s advocacy with the Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation have inspired their sons to amplify their voices.
Alongside Dr. Paruthi, Yash and Sanjay took part in advocacy efforts for the RLS Foundation on the Hill.
Yash reflected on the experience: “We gave our stories as children suffering with restless legs syndrome, and I think that was really interesting for the staffers to hear because they don’t get a lot of kids who come in to advocate.”
Sanjay agreed.
“I think it was important for [staffers] to hear our perspective about what it’s like to have RLS,” he said. “They can make connections, like they knew a family member or friend who might have had RLS, and they wouldn’t know [what it was] because they did not know much about [RLS].”
Beyond education and advocacy, Kids Talk Sleep has a charitable arm. The brothers have donated about $3,000 worth of brand-new sleep-related items to a youth shelter in St. Louis.
“We started with our own neighborhood and went from door to door with our flyer. We got a pretty good turnout with that,” Yash said. “We were able to hand-deliver items to the shelter.”
While Yash and Sanjay’s work has already made a meaningful impact, they have big plans for the future. They hope to expand their presentations to more schools and reach younger audiences, including kindergarteners, first and second graders.
“I think the earlier kids start to realize the importance of sleep, [the more likely they are to] prioritize it,” Yash said. “Our goal is to make sleep cool. If we can do that for younger kids, hopefully it [will] stick with them.”
They’re also exploring systemic issues like high school start times. As students themselves, they’ve experienced the strain of balancing academics, sports and social lives with proper sleep.
“We have been exploring how we can delay school start times because there have been many studies showing how it affects children, and teenagers especially,” Sanjay said. “Maybe we’ll start with our own school.”
Their work with Kids Talk Sleep has also shaped their career aspirations. Both brothers are considering paths in health care and research. Yash plans to study public health and eventually attend medical school, with a focus on addressing sleep disparities in vulnerable populations.
Yash, reflecting on his experience at SLEEP 2024 in Houston, shared, “Some of my favorite things were the posters and the exhibit hall. They were mainly made by medical students, and some of them were there to present their research projects, which was inspiring to me, as someone who wants to do research in the future.”
Sanjay shares similar ambitions.
“I feel like Kids Talk Sleep has absolutely started to shape my future. I would love to go into pre-med and then go into sleep medicine,” he said. “I’ve met a lot of people who have changed the sleep medicine field, done groundbreaking research and played huge roles in the field. I would like to add to their research or find something new to help advance our knowledge of sleep.”
Dr. Paruthi is thrilled to see her sons embrace their passions and explore the impact of sleep health.
“Yash and Sanjay have two parents who prioritize and value sleep and have dedicated our lives to advancing awareness, education, and better access to care and treatment,” she said. “My husband and I have always thought, would we encourage our children to enter the medical field? I think it’s the most fulfilling job ever to help people in their time of need. Medicine is a great way to do that. If they go to med school, and if they go on to become physicians, well, that would just be fantastic.”
With a supportive family, a growing nonprofit, and a mission to inspire others, Yash and Sanjay Malhotra are proving that advocacy knows no age limit. Their efforts to make sleep education fun and relatable could transform how the next generation prioritizes sleep — one wave at a time.
