Maintaining adequate hours of sleep is essential to one's future health and lifestyle, according to a collaborative research by sleep researchers and epidemiologists from Denmark and Finland.
In the study involved more than 35,000 adult Finns who completed at least three consecutive phases and a trial, which was a large longitudinal cohort, according to Science Daily.
To effectively screen and identify study subjects in the three waves of the cohort study, the investigators utilized strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The criteria made a major distinction between the beginning of altered sleep patterns and the resulting changes in lifestyle among subjects with a balanced lifestyle prior to having disturbed sleep patterns.
The investigators monitored and followed-up a group of people who are physically active and with normal sleep patterns for four years, in order to gauge their exposure status like onset of disturbed sleep. After four years, it was noted that some subjects remained physically active, but experienced sleep disturbances.
To further assess if there was a significant difference in the potential of becoming physically inactive between people who had normal sleep patterns and those who did not have, the researchers continued their monitoring for another four years, as per Medical Xpress.
University of Copenhagen Department of Public health Postdoc Alice Jessie Clark said that the study revealed that sleep influences human's ability to preserve a healthy lifestyle. She added that when normal sleep patterns decline, humans will be more inclined to having unhealthy lifestyle.
Clark also emphasized the significance of having adequate knowledge on sleep, as this may aid people to make logical decisions when it comes to prioritizing their daily activities.