Kicking in your sleep is common, and a large study shows what it goes with

If your partner says you kick in your sleep, you are far from alone, and there is a simple, practical way to follow up. A large new study looked at leg movements during sleep and found they tend to show up alongside a few things your doctor can easily check, including anemia.

These movements are called periodic limb movements. Your legs twitch or jerk again and again, at regular intervals, while you sleep. Most people never notice. The study does not say the kicks cause anything. It says they travel with certain health issues, which gives you a useful reason to ask a question.

How the study worked

Researchers reviewed records from 481,857 adults who had an overnight sleep study and filled out a health questionnaire at 240 sleep centers in 30 US states. The results were published on Oct. 15, 2026, in Sleep. Because it looked back at existing records, it shows links and not causes, and everyone had been sent for sleep testing, so they are not a picture of the general public.

What they found

On average, people had about 10 leg movements for every hour of sleep (10.3 events per hour, to be exact). Some had many more and some had very few.

People with more leg movements were more likely to have:

• A diagnosis of depression
• Higher scores on an insomnia questionnaire
• Elevated blood sugar
• Anemia

The sleep studies showed two more links. More leg movements went with more brief wake-ups during the night and with lower sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency is the share of time in bed that you actually spend asleep.

The rates also differed by group. Leg movements were highest among White participants and lower among Hispanic, Asian and Black participants. The researchers say genetic and cultural factors may both play a part, and they call for more work to sort that out.

Then came a surprise. People with more sleep apnea, a condition where breathing pauses during sleep, had fewer recorded leg movements. This held even when the researchers split people by whether they used a CPAP machine. The authors think the movements may be undercounted when apnea is present, perhaps because of how sleep studies are scored. That is a question for specialists, and it suggests the true picture may be larger than the numbers show.

Why does anemia come up?

Anemia means your blood carries less oxygen than it should, often because of low iron. Leg movements during sleep have been tied to low iron before, so a simple blood test is a reasonable thing to ask about. Your instinct to think about iron is a sound one. The study found a link with anemia in particular, so a blood test is a good way to learn more, and it can rule out or confirm the things that tend to travel with kicking.

The other links, like low mood, poor sleep and blood sugar, are also worth knowing about. They are all common, and all can be checked and managed. A partner noticing your kicks does not mean something is wrong. It means you have a clue worth sharing.

What you can do today

Ask your partner a few simple questions about what they see. Do the kicks come in regular bursts? How often does it happen? Do you wake up tired or with restless legs in the evening? Jot down the answers on your phone, then bring them to your next doctor visit and ask whether a blood test for iron and anemia makes sense for you.