Undertaking most of the daily physical activity in the evening is linked to the greatest health benefits for people suffering from obesity and diabetes, new research has found.

According to the study published in the journal Diabetes Care, those performing a majority of their "out-of-breath" vigorous activity between 6 pm and midnight were found to have the lowest risk of dying prematurely and from cardiac ailments.

The study followed nearly 30,000 people aged 40 years or above over almost eight years.

"Exercise is by no means the only solution to the obesity crisis. But this research does suggest that people who can plan their activity into certain times of the day may best offset some of these health risks," said lead author Angelo Sabag, a lecturer in exercise physiology at The University of Sydney, Australia.

Using wearable devices, the participants' physical activity was recorded, along with the time of the day when it was undertaken.

The researchers did not just track structured exercise, but also moderate to vigorous aerobic activity performed in bouts of three minutes or more, as they said previous research has shown such activity to be strongly associated with glucose control and lowering the risk of heart-related diseases.

"We didn't discriminate on the kind of activity we tracked. It could be anything from power walking to climbing the stairs, but could also include structured exercise such as running, occupational labour or even vigorously cleaning the house," said Matthew Ahmadi, a postdoctoral research fellow at The University of Sydney.

The frequency with which such activity was performed was found to be more important than the total amount of physical activity undertaken throughout the entire day.

Even though the findings are observational with no cause-and-effect links established, the researchers said it supports the original hypothesis that people living with diabetes or obesity, and are already glucose intolerant in the late evening, may be able to offset some of that intolerance by performing physical activity in the evening.

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