Fitbit data has shown how sleep deprivation can impact health.
A study of Fitbit users has found that there is a correlation between a lack of sleep and health issues
The Google-woned fitness watch company provided Nature Medicine with a raft of data from users for the largest study of its kind to date and having examined nearly 6.5 million nights of sleep from over 6,700 Fitbit users, concluded that there is a correlation between a lack of sleep and health conditions.
In a blog post, Google said: "Every additional hour of sleep was associated with a significantly lower odds of having conditions like obesity and sleep apnea. Not just too little but also too much sleep was also found to be associated with various conditions.
"The balance of REM, light, and deep sleep shown in Fitbit data seemed to play a crucial role in heart health and mental wellbeing."
The study found significant differences in median sleep duration across demographics, noting that women "tended to sleep longer than men" and white participants slept longer than black participants.
Google added: "While this study is not intended to suggest that Fitbit sleep data is a clinical tool, we think some of these insights will show researchers the benefits of using cost-effective sleep monitors and wearables for studying how changes in sleep patterns over time might affect the health of populations at scale.
"And the study continues to be a wake up call that consistent sleep is as important as getting enough shut-eye."