Science has repeatedly demonstrated the link between good sleep and good health: now a study published on SLEEP Advances not only confirms this connection, but reveals that sleeping less than seven hours a night would impact life expectancy almost as much as smoking, regardless of place of residence or socioeconomic status.
Almost like smoking and obesity. The data was collected from over 3,000 US counties between 2019 and 2025: to reach their conclusions, the authors compared the sleep duration reported by participants, interviewed by telephone, with the life expectancy in each county. The results give a rather clear picture: the areas where residents slept less than seven hours per night on average were also those where life expectancy was lowest. Of all the habits considered, sleep proved to be one of the strongest indicators of life expectancy, second only to smoking and obesity, and ahead of diabetes and physical inactivity.
The various limitations of the study. The study has several limitations: the data on sleep hours were reported by the participants themselves, and are therefore not the result of standardized and objective measurements; no distinctions have been made between seven or more hours of sleep – and we know that sleeping too much can be harmful to your health; any causes of insufficient sleep were then not considered, such as sleep apnea, psychiatric problems or personal choices; finally, during the study period we experienced the covid pandemic, which may have influenced the results (even if, in reality, in non-pandemic years the authors found the same associations between sleep and life expectancy).
Taking everything into account, the research is yet another confirmation of the importance of a good night’s sleep. Unlike other mortality risk factors, such as genetic ones, in this case changing our sleeping habits and being able to sleep more and better can really make a difference and give us a little more life.
