Night owls -- a person who is habitually active or wakeful at night -- tend to have a higher body mass index (BMI), larger waists, and more hidden body fat and thus are almost 50 per cent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes (T2D) than those who go to bed earlier, shows new research on Monday.

Previous studies have indicated that late chronotype -- people who prefer to go to bed late and wake up late -- live an unhealthy lifestyle, and are at higher risk of obesity and metabolic disorders including type 2 diabetes.