Physical Activity in the Evening Linked to Greater Health Benefits for People with Obesity

Monday - April 15 2024, 22:15 UTC - 7 months ago

A study by the University of Sydney found that people with obesity who do their daily aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity in the evening have a lower risk of premature death and cardiovascular disease. The frequency of physical activity is also more important than the total amount of activity. The study used data from over 29,000 participants and found that those who did most of their activity in the evening had a 35% lower risk of death and a 45% lower risk of cardiovascular death.

Undertaking the majority of daily physical activity in the evening is linked to the greatest health benefits for people living with obesity, according to researchers from the University of Sydney, Australia who followed the trajectory of 30,000 people over almost 8 years. The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, used wearable device data to categorize participant’s physical activity into morning, afternoon, or evening .

Those who did the majority of their aerobic moderate to vigorous physical activity in the evening had the lowest risk of premature death and death from cardiovascular disease. The frequency of moderate to vigorous physical activity in the evening, measured in short bouts of 3 minutes or more, was found to be more important than the total amount of physical activity daily. “Due to a number of complex societal factors, around two in three Australians have excess weight or obesity which puts them at a much greater risk of major cardiovascular conditions such as heart attacks and stroke, and premature death,” said Dr .

Angelo Sabag, Lecturer in Exercise Physiology at the University of Sydney. He went on to say that while exercise is not the only solution to the obesity crisis, this research suggests that planning physical activity in certain times of the day may help offset some of the health risks. This study stands out due to its scale and the use of objective measures and hard outcomes, such as premature death, to reach its findings .

Joint first author Dr. Matthew Ahmadi emphasized that the study did not only track structured exercise, but also any form of continuous aerobic physical activity such as power walking, occupational labor, or even vigorously cleaning the house. The findings supported the researchers’ hypothesis that people living with diabetes or obesity can offset some of their glucose intolerance and associated complications by doing physical activity in the evening .

Using data from UK Biobank, the study followed 29,836 participants aged 40 to 64 years over a 7.7-year median time span. During this time, 1,527 deaths occurred. Sequence analysis showed that those who did most of their physical activity in the evening had a 35% lower risk of death from any cause and a 45% lower risk of cardiovascular death, independent of their total amount of physical activity.