A major new study highlights a surprising and serious health risk for adults around the world: regularly sleeping less than seven hours per night could be linked to a significantly shorter life expectancy. Researchers analyzing extensive health data from across the United States found that insufficient sleep wasn’t just a minor inconvenience — in fact, it was a strong predictor of reduced longevity, surpassing many well-known lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and social isolation in its association with lifespan.
The research, led by experts at Oregon Health & Science University and published in SLEEP Advances, examined sleep patterns and life expectancy at the county level across the U.S. from 2019 to 2025. Using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, investigators compared how many hours people reported sleeping each night with the average expected years of life in their respective communities. What emerged was a consistent and striking pattern: counties with higher proportions of people getting fewer than seven hours of sleep each night tended to have noticeably lower life expectancy than those where more people achieved adequate rest.
According to the researchers, sleep insufficiency was one of the strongest behavioral predictors of shorter life, second only to smoking in its impact on mortality risk. This means that routinely short sleep could pose a greater risk to long-term health than factors like poor diet or lack of exercise — a finding that surprised many of the scientists involved in the study. One lead author, sleep scientist Andrew McHill, Ph.D., noted that while the importance of sleep to overall well-being has long been understood, the magnitude of its association with life expectancy in this study was “a powerful wake-up call” for individuals and public health officials alike.
Experts recommend that adults aim for between seven and nine hours of sleep per night to support optimal health. Sufficient sleep plays a critical role in nearly every major bodily system, including the cardiovascular system, immune response, and brain function. Lack of sleep has been tied to a host of negative outcomes — from increased inflammation and impaired metabolic regulation to diminished cognitive performance and poorer emotional health. Emerging evidence suggests that when sleep patterns are chronically disrupted, these effects accumulate over time, contributing to increased vulnerability to disease and premature mortality.
Importantly, this link between sleep duration and life expectancy held true across diverse regions and demographic groups in the U.S., regardless of socioeconomic status, healthcare access, or geographic location. Whether in urban centres or rural communities, areas with higher rates of insufficient sleep consistently showed reduced life expectancies compared with neighbouring counties where residents tended to meet or exceed seven hours of sleep nightly.
Sleep researchers emphasize that sleep quality matters just as much as quantity. Factors such as stress, irregular schedules, excessive screen time before bed, caffeine consumption late in the day, and lifestyle pressures can all contribute to shorter and more fragmented sleep. In many modern societies, shift work, long commutes, and the pervasive use of digital devices have made sustained, high-quality sleep harder to achieve for millions of people — a trend that may be contributing to broader public health challenges.
While individual responses to sleep needs can vary, the growing body of evidence underscores that sleep is not a luxury, but a core pillar of health. Policymakers and health experts are increasingly calling for sleep to be given as much emphasis in health guidelines as nutrition and physical activity, urging communities to adopt sleep-friendly policies that support later school start times, improved work–life balance, and public education on healthy sleep habits.
In summary, getting fewer than seven hours of sleep each night may not only leave you feeling tired the next day — it could also shorten your life. As scientific understanding of sleep and longevity continues to expand, prioritizing restful nights may prove to be one of the most powerful steps individuals can take for long-term health and longevity.
