Individuals who tend to stay up late, commonly known as “night owls,” face nearly a 50% increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who go to bed earlier, according to a report.

They also typically exhibit higher Body Mass Index (BMI), larger waist sizes, and greater amounts of hidden body fat, including visceral and liver fat, which can lead to metabolic health issues.

These findings, which have not yet been published, will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Madrid, Spain. The study, led by Dr. Jeroen van der Velde from Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, examines the relationship between sleep timing, body fat distribution, and diabetes risk.

While earlier research indicated that late sleepers often engage in unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking or poor dietary choices, this study suggests that lifestyle factors alone do not completely account for the heightened risk of type 2 diabetes among night owls.

The study examined data from over 5,000 participants as part of the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study. With an average age of 56, these individuals shared information about their sleep patterns, which were used to classify them into three chronotype groups based on their natural sleep-wake preferences:

• Early Chronotypes: Individuals who prefer to wake up and go to bed early. Intermediate Chronotypes: Those with a balanced sleep schedule, neither early nor late.
• Late Chronotypes: People who stay up late and wake up later. These groups illustrate variations in individual internal body clocks and daily rhythms.

The findings revealed that late chronotypes had a 46% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those in the intermediate group, even after accounting for factors like age, physical activity, and sleep quality. They also exhibited higher BMI, larger waist sizes, and increased amounts of visceral and liver fat.

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Dr. van der Velde suggests that lifestyle changes, such as avoiding late-night eating and considering time-restricted eating, may help improve metabolic health for night owls.

“We believe that other mechanisms are also at play,” says Dr van der Velde. “A likely explanation is that the circadian rhythm or body clock in late chronotypes is out of sync with the work and social schedules followed by society. This can lead to circadian misalignment, which we know can lead to metabolic disturbances and ultimately type 2 diabetes.”