Night Owl is the bang antonym of Early Bird. Night Owl refers to a person who is in the habit of staying awake late in the night. Even with the same amount of sleep as early risers, Night Owls are more prone to develop chronic ailments like diabetes and muscle loss.
This was the conclusion of a new study which comprised of more than 1600 people in South Korea. The subjects of the study were all aged in between 47 to 59 years. The participants gave details of their sleep habits and also underwent tests to assess the state of their health.
Dr. Nan Hee Kim, of Korea University College of Medicine in Ansan, South Korea said, “Regardless of lifestyle, people who stayed up late faced a higher risk of developing health problems like diabetes or reduced muscle mass than those who were early risers.”
Dr. Nan Hee Kim gave this information in a news release from the Endocrine Society.
“This could be caused by night owls’ tendency to have poorer sleep quality and to engage in unhealthy behaviors like smoking, late-night eating and a sedentary lifestyle,” Kim added.
Among the 1600 subjects in the study , 95 were night owls while 480 were early risers and the remainder came somewhere in between.
Though the night owls were younger, they had a higher level of body fats and fats in blood as compared to early risers. Night Owls were more prone to suffer from sarcopenia, a condition where the body gradually loses muscle mass. This was revealed in the study.
Women who were night owls were more likely to suffer from excess belly fat and elevated risk of metabolic syndrome which is a condition that increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. The study was published in the online April 1 edition of Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Kim said that many younger people are night owls and the risk linked with this type of sleep habit is an important health issue that needs to be addressed.
Leave a Reply