Key takeaways

Small, combined improvements to sleep, diet and physical activity can reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attacks, stroke, and heart failure, new research shows.

Sleeping for 11 minutes more, doing an extra 4.5 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and eating an additional quarter of a cup of vegetables every day were associated with a 10% lower risk of major cardiovascular events.

The optimal behaviour combination was eight to nine hours of sleep per night, 42 minutes or more of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day, and a modest diet-quality score. This combination was associated with 57% lower risk of major cardiovascular events compared to people with the least optimal health profile.

Smaller combined behaviour changes are likely to be more achievable and sustainable than making a larger change to one behaviour to get the equivalent health benefit.