Late Nighters Face Higher Diabetes Risk Due To Body Clock Misalignment‌ ‌

Researchers found that people who stay up late have a higher body mass index and are almost 50% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. SANDER SAMMY VIA UNSPLASH

“>

Night owls are more likely to develop diabetes, warns a new study.

But it’s not just due to an unhealthy lifestyle that people who burn the candle at both ends are more at risk, say scientists.

Researchers found that people who stay up all hours have a higher body mass index (BMI), larger waists, more hidden body fat and are almost 50% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those who go to bed earlier.

Study leader Dr. Jeroen van der Velde, of Leiden University Medical Center in Holland, said: “Previous studies have indicated that a late chronotype – preferring to go to bed late and wake up later – is associated with an unhealthy lifestyle.

“Late chronotypes are more likely to smoke or have an unhealthy diet, for example, and it has been suggested this is why they are higher risk of obesity and metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes.

“However, we believe that lifestyle cannot fully explain the relationship between a late chronotype and metabolic disorders.

“In addition, while it is known that a late chronotype is associated with high BMI, it isn’t clear to what extent chronotype affects body fat distribution.”

Dr. van der Velde and his colleagues analyzed the association between sleep timing, diabetes and body fat distribution in more than 5,000 people as part of the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study, an ongoing research project looking at the influence of body fat on disease.