Building better sleep habits could cut the risk of early death by almost a quarter and add up to four years to life expectancy, according to a major new study.
The analysis by insurance company Vitality and the London School of Economics (LSE), based on 47 million nights of sleep linked to hospital and insurance records, found that people who had seven hours’ sleep and a consistent bedtime had a 24 per cent lower mortality risk than those with irregular or shorter sleep patterns.
Researchers also found that those who regularly slept fewer than six hours a night were 20 per cent more likely to die prematurely than people getting between seven and eight hours.
With those experiencing chronic sleep loss 7 per cent more likely to be hospitalised, the results of the study also shed light on the negative impacts of poor sleep habits on the NHS, and estimated that £1.35bn a year could be saved if just a quarter of Britons improved their sleep habits.
In spite of these benefits, the research highlighted that 90 per cent of people fail to meet their optimal sleep patterns, with one in three adults sleeping fewer than seven hours a night.
When such sleep loss occurs on a regular basis, the study found that the likelihood of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and early death significantly increases, and even short-term sleep restriction can impair glucose control to pre-diabetes levels.
Measures such as setting a fixed bedtime, limiting screen-time before bed, and creating a wind-down routine are all actions which can contribute to better sleep - and a longer life, the study found.
The researchers said these findings challenged the idea that sleep is simply a passive biological process, arguing instead that it should be treated like exercise or diet - a daily behaviour that can be measured and improved.
Dr Katie Tryon, Deputy CEO at Vitality, said: “Sleep has long been known to be of clinical relevance but it has not been considered to be a daily habit, like physical activity, that can be tracked and improved. For most people, the problem is not pathology, but routine. Reframing sleep in this way shifts the agenda - it makes sleep a behaviour that can be tracked, nudged, and reinforced.”
Bedtime consistency also emerged as one of the strongest predictors of health in the dataset, and in some cases proved more important than the total number of hours slept.
The study found that people whose bedtimes varied widely from night to night faced significantly higher health risks, even if they achieved a similar amount of sleep overall.
The researchers say this pattern reflects disruption to the body’s internal clock, which governs when hormones are released, how blood sugar is processed and how the immune system functions. When sleep times shift from day to day - a pattern sometimes described as “social jetlag”, these biological systems become misaligned, placing strain on the heart, metabolism and brain.
Joan Costa-i-Font, professor of Health Economics at LSE, said: “The research makes it clear that better sleep behaviours aren’t just about feeling rested, they’re fundamental to long-term health and wellbeing investment.”
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