Over-sleepers may have increased risk of dying early, study finds

Over-sleeping and under-exercising could increase the risk of dying early, an Australian study has found.

University of Sydney researchers used data from the six-year, 200,000-participant ‘45 and Up’ study to investigate the effects of sleep on health.

The data suggested that sleeping more than nine hour a day could increase the risk of death by 44 percent – more than the risk associated with high alcohol consumption.

However, the negative effects of over-sleeping were far less than those of physical inactivity and smoking, which can increase the risk of death by 94 percent.

“The detrimental effect of over sleeping was more important than the detrimental effect of under sleeping,” university Associate Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis said.

“The combination of sitting too much, not exercising enough and sleeping for too long was one of the most toxic in our study.”

More research is needed, with over-sleeping possibly indicating the presence of chronic disease or a lack of quality sleep.

Sleeping can also take up time that could be spent exercising, thus negatively impacting health.

The 45 and Up study was the “largest study of its kind in the southern hemisphere,” study scientific director Professor Emily Banks said.

A third of all deaths that occurred during the study period were due to unhealthy behaviour.