Commentary on sleep and performance across the lifespan: what is known about athlete requirements from children to adults and future direction?
Abstract
This letter offers a critical commentary on the narrative review by de Mello et al. (2025) on sleep and performance across the lifespan. While the review provides a comprehensive synthesis of sleep requirements in athletes from childhood to older adulthood, this letter highlights areas for further clarification and development. These include the need for more empirical data on youth athletes, clearer operationalization of sleep metrics, and greater attention to sociocultural and sport-specific contexts. The commentary supports the authors’ call for age-specific sleep strategies and encourages future research to integrate longitudinal and interdisciplinary approaches to better inform athlete health and performance.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Sports Performance and Training
Sleep and related disorders
Sport Psychology and Performance
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Biological Rhythm Research
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 692–694
- Publication date
- 3 January 2026
- Language
- EN