By now, most of you are probably on the typical college students’ sleeping schedule: class all day, homework all night, sleep in as late as possible. This might seem to be working for your body and your mind, but it can actually have more of a negative effect on your health than you might think. A new study shows that night owls (people who stay up late and sleep in late) were heavier and less fit than early risers who go to bed well before the sun comes up.
The study, published in the journal Sleep, involved teenagers, but college students are not too far off from this age range. Not only did the sleeping patterns of the subjects tested affect their weight, but also their over-all lifestyle. Those who went to bed earlier got a half hour more exercise than the night owls. Furthermore, the late-nighters were 1.5 percent more likely to become obese.
The difference is in the time management. Quite simply, the up-all-nighters were more likely to do unhealthy things like watch TV and eat junk food the longer they stayed up. The teens who went to bed earlier did not give themselves a chance to overindulge in unhealthy activities.
A college student’s schedule is often times more sporadic than a teenager’s. There is no telling when the next all-nighter has to be pulled and, more often than not, it is usually an emergency situation that cannot be avoided. However, the key to remaining healthy and fit is to get your body on as consistent as a sleep schedule as possible. Don’t just stop at sleep either, the more time you are awake, the more time you have to squeeze in a half hour (or more) of exercise.
Also, do not forget homework can be done just as easily in the morning as it can at night, all this requires is for you to be awake. Instead of staying up those extra hours and putting off sleep, give yourself a rest and set your alarm for a couple hours earlier. You never know, you could find you work better on a full-night’s rest.
Graduation will come in a blink of an eye, faster than it takes you to even fall asleep sometimes. Pretty soon, you will be a vital component in the workforce, and having a schedule will be one of the most important tools to contribute to your future. Start now, and getting to bed at a decent hour and waking up at the crack of dawn will not seem as painful in the real world. Prepare yourself now to be your healthiest self in the future.