Healthy Sleep Patterns in Adolescence Predict Better Cardiovascular Health in the Future

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

A new study presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting found that teens with earlier, more efficient, and less variable sleep patterns at age 15 had better cardiovascular health at age 22.

Results show that several healthy sleep habits at age 15 predicted a higher (better) cardiovascular health score at age 22: falling asleep and waking up earlier, spending a lower percentage of time in bed awake, and having lower variability in total sleep time and sleep onset. In contrast, average total sleep time did not predict future cardiovascular health. Results were adjusted for potential confounders including sociodemographic characteristics and self-reported body mass index, diet, and physical activity during adolescence.

The researchers analyzed longitudinal data from sub-studies of the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study. The diverse sample comprised 307 adolescents; 57% were female. Sleep variables were estimated at age 15 using one week of wrist actigraphy.

At age 22, cardiovascular health was assessed using the seven non-sleep factors (self-reported diet, physical activity, and nicotine exposure, and objectively measured body mass index, blood lipids, blood glucose, and blood pressure) from the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8, producing an average composite score.

“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,” said lead data analyst and study author Gina Marie Mathew, who has a doctorate in biobehavioral health and is a senior postdoctoral associate in public health in the department of family, population, and preventive medicine at Stony Brook Renaissance School of Medicine in New York.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-06-healthy-patterns-adolescence-cardiovascular-health.html