Habitual sleep duration, healthy eating, and digestive system cancer mortality

Lifestyle choices, such as dietary patterns and sleep duration, significantly impact the health of the digestive system and may influence the risk of mortality from digestive system cancer.

This study aimed to examine the associations between sleep duration, dietary habits, and mortality from digestive system cancers. The analysis included 406,584 participants from the UK Biobank cohort (54.1% women; age range: 38-73 years), with sleep duration classified as short (≤ 6 h, 24.2%), normal (7-8 h, 68.4%), and long (≥ 9 h, 7.4%). Healthy eating habits were defined as a daily intake of at least 25 g of fibre, seven portions of fruits and vegetables, and fewer than four servings of meat per week. These dietary factors were combined into a score ranging from 0 (least healthy) to 3 (healthiest). Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were conducted, with a median follow-up period of 12.6 years, ending on September 30, 2021.

3949 participants died from cancer of the digestive system. Both short and long sleep duration were associated with an increased risk of mortality from cancer of the digestive system (1.09 (1.01-1.18) and 1.14 (1.03-1.27), respectively). Additionally, a diet score ≥ 1 was linked to a lower cancer risk (0.72-0.91 (0.59-0.96)). Adjusting for smoking, type 2 diabetes, and body mass index (BMI) status eliminated the association between sleep duration and digestive cancer mortality. The association between healthy dietary patterns and the risk of digestive system cancer mortality did not vary by sleep duration.

Aberrant sleep durations may increase the risk of mortality from digestive system cancer, potentially through smoking, higher BMI, and type 2 diabetes. However, aberrant sleep durations do not seem to reduce the protective effects of a healthy dietary pattern.