Why night owls are 10% more likely to die early

NIGHT owls who go to bed late and get up late have a 10 per cent higher risk of dying early than morning larks, a study found.

Research based on 433,268 people in the UK aged 38 to 73 found that night owls had the higher chance of death over the six and a half years they were studied.

One of the researchers, Kristen Knutson, associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University in Chicago, said: ‘Night owls trying to live in a morning lark world may have health consequences for their bodies.’

Previous studies have found that staying up late has bad effects on the heart and metabolism. But night owls still had a 10 per cent higher risk of death after these effects were adjusted for.

The researchers asked participants if they are a ‘definite morn-

‘Eating at the wrong time’

ing type’, a ‘moderate morning type’, a ‘moderate evening type’, or a ‘definite evening type’. Deaths were tracked for the next six and half years and it was found that the definite evening type was most likely to die.

Professor Malcolm von Schantz from the University of Surrey, co-author of the study published in the journal Chronobiology International, said: ‘This is a public health issue that can no longer be ignored.’

‘We should discuss allowing evening types to start and finish work later, where practical.

‘It could be that people who are up late have an internal biological clock that doesn’t match their external environment.

‘It could be psychological stress, eating at the wrong time for their body, not exercising enough, not sleeping enough, being awake at night by yourself.’