New technologies are enabling researchers to better understand the many benefits of a good night’s sleep for your health. Drawing on a new study of millions of sleep records, Joan Costa-i-Font argues the preventative benefits of sleep for public health should be taken more seriously.
Sleep is the single most time-consuming activity of human life. In a society that prizes productivity, we often see sleep as expendable, something to trade for late-night work or one more episode of a show. But mounting evidence shows that good sleep isn’t a luxury; it’s a powerful form of preventative healthcare.
For decades, public health efforts have centred on diet and exercise. Yet, sleep, an equally crucial pillar of wellbeing, is often overlooked. Despite awareness campaigns, adult sleep has worsened. In the United States, the proportion of people who sleep six hours or less has risen from 22 % in 1985 to 29 % in 2012, and newer surveys suggest it’s now even higher.
For decades, public health efforts have centred on diet and exercise. Yet, sleep, an equally crucial pillar of wellbeing, is often overlooked.
Cross‑country comparisons reveal similar patterns: people in Asia and North America log the least consistent and shortest sleep, while Europeans sleep more but at more variable times – a phenomenon called social jetlag. The modern world compounds these trends. Always‑on digital culture, blue‑light exposure from screens, late-night caffeine, and irregular schedules have undermined our natural rhythms. Even small disruptions have measurable effects: broadband access alone has been shown to reduce sleep by 25 minutes a night in some populations.
In a recent research report titled ‘Building healthy sleep habits’, in collaboration with Vitality Research Institute, my colleagues and I offer an analysis of more than 47 million nights of tracked sleep across multiple countries. We show that healthy sleep patterns directly lower risks of hospitalisation, disease, and early death.
The hidden costs of poor sleep
Insufficient sleep doesn’t just make us tired; it silently affects almost every system in the body. We found adults who regularly sleep fewer than six hours face a 20 % higher risk of premature death compared with those who get seven or eight hours. Short or irregular sleep increases blood pressure, disturbs hormones regulating appetite, accelerates ageing of the arteries, weakens immunity, and impairs glucose control.
Mental health is equally vulnerable. Fragmented sleep doubles the risk of developing depression, while consistent sleep supports emotional regulation and stress resilience. Poor rest drains focus, sharpens anxiety, and makes it harder to cope with everyday challenges.
adults who regularly sleep fewer than six hours face a 20 % higher risk of premature death compared with those who get seven or eight hours.
From an economic standpoint, the toll is striking. RAND Europe estimates that insufficient sleep costs countries up to 2 % of GDP annually, driven by absenteeism and lower productivity. Vitality’s Britain’s Healthiest Workplace data shows that workers who sleep fewer than six hours a night lose the equivalent of six productive days a year. When scaled to national levels, that’s hundreds of thousands of lost workdays. Good sleep is an economic advantage, not just a personal one.
Sleep as a learned behaviour
Based on these findings healthy sleeping should be reframed as a “desirable habit”. Unlike exercise, which people actively plan, many still see sleep as passive or a state that “just happens”. But consistent bedtime and wake‑time routines are habits shaped by cues and repetition. Our research mirrors psychological models of habit formation: cue → routine → reward. Consistency trumps intensity: repeating a behaviour in a stable context allows it to become automatic.
Unlike exercise, which people actively plan, many still see sleep as passive or a state that “just happens”. But consistent bedtime and wake‑time routines are habits shaped by cues and repetition.
Analysing millions of sleep records, our study found that while many people maintain broadly stable patterns, both improvement and deterioration are common proof that sleep habits can be built or broken just like any other habit. We measured sleep using wearables and smart devices, that capture duration, regularity, and quality. These are used by individuals to recognise patterns and adjust routines. With real-time feedback and gentle nudges, tracking turns awareness into action.
The public value of healthy sleep
Data from Sleep Score (a measurement created by Vitality to gauge how ‘healthily’ one sleeps) confirm that regularity or consistency of bedtime is a stronger predictor of health outcomes than total sleep hours. Falling asleep within a consistent one-hour window lowers mortality risk by 31% and hospital admissions by 9%. By contrast, only improving duration yields smaller benefits of around 2%. We find that better sleep comes with health care savings. Modelling across eight major markets shows potential healthcare savings of up to $287 per person per year through reduced hospital visits. Extrapolated nationally, that equates to billions in potential cost savings.
The promise of AI and digital coaching
Artificial intelligence can now turn sleep data into personalised guidance. Algorithms can detect irregular patterns, late-night activity, or caffeine-linked restlessness, offering reminders to start winding down or adjust bedtime. AI-enabled “sleep coaches” can provide immediate rewards like nightly scores, progress badges, or even financial incentives to help sustain commitment until good sleep becomes automatic. In short, technology that once kept us awake can now teach us to rest.
While individual responsibility matters, lasting change also requires systemic redesign, and our study includes some policy recommendations that can on margin improve our sleep such as:
Abolishing daylight‑saving time to reduce circadian disruption.
Mandating default blue‑light filters on devices after dusk.
Creating quiet urban zones and reducing night‑time light pollution.
Encouraging employers to limit late‑night emails and makeshift schedules predictable.
Integrating sleep incentives into wellness and insurance programmes.
Later start times at school for teenagers (whose internal clocks naturally run later) can improve learning and well-being.
Workplace cultures that respect the “right to disconnect” can restore balance for adults.
Finally, it’s worth reminding we that sleep doesn’t exist in isolation. It intertwines with diet, exercise, stress, and social behaviour. Inadequate rest makes it harder to eat healthily or stay active, while regular movement and balanced nutrition, in turn, promote deeper and more consistent sleep.
Just as public health once embraced the power of seatbelts, exercise, and nutrition, it’s time to place rest at the centre of modern wellbeing.
Nutrients like magnesium (found in avocados, beans, and whole grains) and tryptophan (from dairy, seeds, and fish) aid the body’s melatonin production. Restricting alcohol and caffeine in the evening prevents fragmented sleep. Recognising these connections helps reframe wellness as an integrated system rather than discrete targets.
Sleep, in other words, is the next frontier of prevention. Just as public health once embraced the power of seatbelts, exercise, and nutrition, it’s time to place rest at the centre of modern wellbeing. Through smart incentives, digital feedback, and supportive policy, good sleep can become not the exception but the default.
📑This post draws on the report ‘Building healthy sleep habits’ , which was commissioned by Vitality Research Institute via LSE Consulting.
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Image credit: Dima Moroz on Shutterstock.
