Night owls more likely to eat poorly, use drugs, die earlier

Working night

Night owls may be more fun at parties, but a preference for staying out late may come with some serious drawbacks, suggests a new study published this week in Chronobiology International. Namely, it might increase your chances of dying early. Researchers looked data from a large, ongoing population study of UK residents, known as the UK Biobank Study. Around a half a million participants enrolled in the study from 2006 to 2010 and have had their health tracked ever since.

Over 10,000 of those people died during the study period. And compared to people who described themselves as definite morning people, night owls were about 10 percent more likely to have died. More than that, night owls were also just generally unhealthier.

Though the current study can’t answer the question of why this might be the case, other research has found that night owls are more likely to eat poorly, act impulsively, use drugs like alcohol, and experience “social jetlag,” otherwise known as waking up at noon on the weekends when you don’t have to get to work.

Much of the stress that comes from being a night owl might simply come down to their internal body clocks, or circadian rhythm, not aligning with the rest of the world.

Read full, original post: People Who Like to Stay Up Later Have a Higher Chance of Early Death, Study Finds

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