Night owls run great risk of becoming couch potatoes

Do you stay up late at night busy surfing internet or chatting on your smart phone and wake up only when morning turns into noon?

Check if you are spending more time sitting and not finding enough time for physical activities as researchers have found that later sleep timing is associated with a greater sedentary period and perceived barriers to exercise.

"We found that even among healthy, active individuals, sleep timing and circadian preference are related to activity patterns and attitudes toward physical activity," said Kelly Glazer Baron, an associate professor of neurology at Northwestern University in Chicago.

"Waking up late and being an evening person were related to more time spent sitting, particularly on weekends and with difficulty making time to exercise," she added.

The study involved 123 healthy adults with a self-reported sleep duration of at least 6.5 hours.

Even among those who were able to exercise, waking up late made it difficult and being an evening person made it perceived as more difficult, the findings showed.

The study appeared in the journal Sleep.