Teens with more consistent sleep have better heart health in early adulthood – study
Teenagers who go to bed earlier, spend less time awake in bed, and maintain regular sleep patterns at age 15 are more likely to show stronger cardiovascular health by age 22, new research suggests.
The study found that adolescents with better sleep efficiency and lower variability in sleep and wake times had higher heart health scores seven years later.
However, average total sleep time did not appear to predict future cardiovascular outcomes.
Researchers analysed longitudinal data from sub-studies of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study.
The analysis accounted for possible confounding factors including sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported body mass index, diet, and physical activity during adolescence.
Gina Marie Mathew is the study’s lead author and a senior post-doctoral associate in public health at Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine in New York.
Mathew said: “Given the importance of sleep health for physical health and well-being in the short-term, we were not surprised to see a lasting association between adolescent sleep timing, sleep maintenance efficiency, and sleep variability with cardiovascular health in young adulthood.
“It was unexpected, however, that with and without adjustment for potentially confounding factors, total sleep time during adolescence was not a significant predictor of cardiovascular health during young adulthood.
“This single null finding, of course, does not indicate that total sleep time is unimportant. Rather, when paired with other studies, these findings underscore the complexity of sleep health and the need to consider multiple sleep dimensions as potential targets for promoting and maintaining cardiovascular health.”
The American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends that teenagers aged 13 to 18 sleep 8 to 10 hours per night for optimal health.
But in addition to duration, healthy sleep includes good quality, regular timing, and the absence of disturbances or sleep disorders.
The study sample included 307 adolescents, 57 per cent of whom were female.
Sleep patterns were measured at age 15 using wrist actigraphy — a non-invasive device worn like a watch to monitor movement and estimate sleep metrics over a week.
At age 22, cardiovascular health was evaluated using seven non-sleep measures from the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 checklist: self-reported diet, physical activity and nicotine exposure, along with clinical indicators such as body mass index, blood pressure, blood glucose, and blood lipids.
These were combined to generate a composite cardiovascular health score.
Mathew said the findings support the need for broader strategies in adolescent health promotion.
The researcher said: “Future research and recommendations should emphasise the importance of multiple dimensions of sleep health, including earlier sleep timing, higher sleep maintenance efficiency, and lower sleep variability as protective factors for long-term heart health.”
