How a weekend sleep-in could help you avoid an early death

Everybody loves a lie-in – but it seems catching up on your sleep at weekends could actually help you avoid an early death.

According to new research, adults under the age of 65 who consistently get less than five hours’ sleep have a higher risk of mortality than those who get six or seven hours.

But it found that those who didn’t get enough sleep during the week then managed to catch up with a longer snooze at weekends didn’t have the same higher risk of mortality as those who consistently go without enough sleep.

The research, published in the Journal of Sleep Research, analysed data from more than 38,000 adults collected in a survey in Sweden in 1997 then followed their fate for up to 13 years.

It found that those under the age of 65 who got five hours’ sleep or less, seven days a week, had a 65% higher mortality rate than those getting six or seven hours every day.

But there was no increased risk of death for those who slept five or fewer hours during the week but then managed eight or more hours’ sleep on weekend days.

And people who slept for eight or more hours, seven days a week, were found to have a 25% higher mortality rate compared with those who kept to six or seven hours a day, the research suggested.

“Possibly, long weekend sleep may compensate for short weekday sleep”, the study said.

Torbjörn Åkerstedt, first author of the study, at the Stress Research Institute, Stockholm University, said: “Sleep duration is important for longevity”.

The study also found that the link between sleep patterns and mortality disappeared for those aged 65 or older.

Stuart Peirson, an expert on the human “body clock” who was not involved in the research, told the Guardian that “sleep debt” needed to be “paid off”.

He said: “You can’t keep burning the candle at both ends. Well, you can, but you won’t live as long.”