'Night owls' likelier to sit more and exercise less

A new study has revealed that people who sleep late at night tend to spend more time sitting and are less motivated to continue an exercise schedule.

Kelly Glazer Baron, PhD said that even among healthy individuals sleep timing and circadian preference are related to activity patterns and attitudes toward physical activity so waking up late or being an evening person were related to more time spent sitting, particularly on weekends and with difficulty making time to exercise.

It is expected that sleep timing and circadian factors would play even a larger role in a population that had more difficulty exercising, he added.

However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that adults get at last 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and participate in muscle-strengthening activities on two or more days a week.

The research is published online in the journal Sleep.