Overview

• Presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting, the study tracked 307 fifteen-year-olds’ sleep via weeklong wrist actigraphy and assessed their heart health seven years later using the American Heart Association’s Life’s Essential 8 framework.
• Teenagers with earlier bedtimes, higher sleep maintenance efficiency and minimal night-to-night variability achieved significantly better composite cardiovascular scores at age 22.
• Average nightly sleep duration did not predict young adult heart health once analyses adjusted for demographic factors, diet, activity levels and body mass index.
• Results align with the American Academy of Sleep Medicine’s 8–10-hour recommendation while highlighting sleep timing and regularity as crucial dimensions of long-term cardiac wellness.
• Authors recommend adolescent sleep interventions that emphasize consistent early bedtimes and improved sleep consolidation to support future heart health.