One study has compared night owls with early risers. This is the result:

Most individuals fit one of these two chronotypes: either we are people of the day or of the night. Or we prefer to stay awake until late and they call us nocturnal owls, or we go to bed and get up early and they call us larks. These patterns in the circadian preferences are, to some extent, written in our genes.

Over the years, the medical community has debated the health effects associated with each chronotype, and the findings have not always been conclusive.

To shed some light on this issue, a group of scientists from various institutions has conducted the most extensive review of studies to date. Their findings have been published in the journal Advances in Nutrition.

Scientists were especially interested in understanding the relationship between circadian rhythms and eating patterns and cardiometabolic health in general.

Due to the stress of modern life, food and sleep patterns can often be disturbed. Exposure to artificial light sources can also affect our circadian patterns. These interruptions can alter cyclic metabolic processes, such as glucose control, lipid metabolism and blood pressure.

Experts found that people who went to bed later tended to have less healthy eating patterns.

For example, they generally ate later, at less regular times, and consumed more alcohol, sugar, and caffeinated products than those who had gone to sleep earlier. Night owls were also more likely to skip breakfast.

In addition, night owls were more inclined to eat less vegetables and cereals. They also ate less frequently but made more copious meals.

This feeding pattern may explain the finding that night owls have an increased risk of heart disease and metabolic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes.

In fact, one study showed that night owls were 2.5 times more likely to have type 2 diabetes than early risers.

Suzana Almoosawi, a researcher at the University of Northumbria in the United Kingdom and leader of the work, explains that:

In adulthood, being a night chronotype is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and this can be potentially due to to poor eating behavior and the diet of people with evening chronotype. — Suzana Almoosawi

According to the researchers, being a nocturnal owl can even affect the way a person controls their diabetes:

Our review also found that people who have less control of their diabetes are more likely to be nocturnal. — Suzana Almoosawi

The review discovered some other interesting findings. It may not be surprising that children are much more likely to be early risers, including 90% of 2-year-olds and 58% of 6-year-olds.

When we get older, we are also more likely to return to childhood schedule preferences.

Although this type of study is still in the early stages and much more research is needed, the findings to date may have enormous implications for public health.

Summary

As children, we are more likely to get up early, but as we enter society, we are more likely to become night owls. In old age, as we move away from the thrust of society, we tend to get up early and go to bed early. Is the social pressure the fault?