Research

Hormonal

In obese individuals with chronic short sleep (<6.5 hours/night), an evening chronotype is associated with higher cardiovascular risk, characterized by increased stress hormones (ACTH, epinephrine), higher resting heart rate, and a higher prevalence of sleep apnea compared to morning types.

If you are obese and consistently sleep less than 6.5 hours, being an 'evening person' significantly increases your risk for sleep apnea and stress-related cardiovascular strain. Prioritizing sleep extension and managing evening light exposure may help mitigate these specific hormonal and cardiovascular risks.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Evening types had overtly higher 24 h urinary epinephrine and morning plasma ACTH levels, and higher morning resting heart rate than Morning types. In addition, Evening types more often had sleep apnea, independent of BMI or neck circumference.
Eliane A. Lucassen et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

Why this rating

Observational study with a relatively large sample size (n=119) and rigorous biochemical assays, but cross-sectional design limits causal inference.

Source

Evening Chronotype Is Associated with Changes in Eating Behavior, More Sleep Apnea, and Increased Stress Hormones in Short Sleeping Obese Individuals

Eliane A. Lucassen et al. · PLoS ONE · 2013

DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0056519

cross_sectional · n=119Cited 266×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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