The relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between diurnal timing of food intake and overweight or type 2 diabetes risk
Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
Final Report Abstract
The project aimed to assess the impact of circadian eating patterns and chronotype on metabolic health from infancy to young adulthood. We examined whether misalignment between individual circadian rhythms (i. e. chronotype) and the timing of energy or carbohydrate intake leads to adverse metabolic outcomes in the short and long term, and whether circadian infant eating patterns influence body composition in childhood. To this end, DONALD data from approx. 1,500 infants, children and adolescents provided longitudinal insights on chronotype, day-time specific dietary intake, and anthropometrics as well as type 2 diabetes risk factors from blood samples drawn in adulthood. Additionally, the project included a short-term controlled nutrition intervention. In the intervention, 45 students aged 18-25 (22 with early and 23 with late chronotypes) participated in a randomized, crossover trial to determine if glycemic responses differ when a high-glycemic index (GI) meal is consumed either in alignment or misalignment with chronotype. Continuous glucose monitoring assessed glucose levels and variability. Results showed that circadian eating patterns established in infancy track through pre- and primary school ages, yet no link was found between these early patterns and body composition in primary-school-aged children. However, a later chronotype and increased social jetlag were linked to higher body fat in adolescents and greater visceral fat in young adults. Students with a late chronotype also exhibited more irregular meal timing, but lockdown conditions allowed them to reduce social jetlag and synchronize meal timing with their internal clocks. Among adolescents with a later chronotype, those delaying peak calorie intake relative to the group median showed notable increases in fat mass over nearly a year. Conversely, adolescents with early chronotypes were more affected by later carbohydrate consumption, which negatively impacted adult insulin sensitivity. The intervention also highlighted chronotype-specific glycemic responses: only early chronotypes had higher glycemic responses to evening high-GI meals, while late chronotypes showed similar glycemic responses regardless of meal timing, suggesting vulnerability to both early and late high-GI meals. In summary, a later chronotype appears to increase susceptibility to misalignment in meal timing and adverse body composition. Interventions are needed to help adolescents and young adults better align their dietary patterns with their chronotype to support metabolic health.
Publications
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Changes in chronotype and social jetlag during adolescence and their association with concurrent changes in BMI-SDS and body composition, in the DONALD Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 76(5), 765-771.
Jankovic, Nicole; Schmitting, Sarah; Krüger, Bettina; Nöthlings, Ute; Buyken, Anette & Alexy, Ute
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Erlaubt der Lockdown ein Mahlzeitentiming nach dem circadianen Rhythmus? 20. Dreiländertagung ‚Nutrition‘, Zurich, Switzerland, online, June 2021. Aktuelle Ernährungsmedizin; 46:e3
Stutz, Bianca
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The role of main energy intake timing according to chronotype on BMI-SDS development during adolescence – Results of the DONALD Study. Proceedings of the German Nutrition Society 27
Jankovic, Nicole
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Einfluss des Chronotypen auf tageszeitliche Unterschiede im Appetit und den second meal effect nach einer Mahlzeit mit einem hohen glykämischen Index – Eine Sekundäranalyse der ChroNu Studie. 59. DGE-Kongress, Proceedings oft he German Nutrition Society 28
Stutz, Bianca
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Glycaemic response to meals with a high glycaemic index consumed in the morning and evening differs according to individual chronotype among students with early and late chronotype- ChroNu Study. 58th EASD Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes: Stockholm, Sweden, 19 - 23 September 2022. Diabetologia; 65:1–469
Stutz, Bianca
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Hunger and glycaemic response to meals with a high glycaemic index consumed in the morning or evening among students with earlier and later chronotype-ChroNu Study. The 1st Gothenburg Precision Nutrition Forum, 12th September 2022
Stutz, Bianca
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Alignment between timing of ‘highest caloric intake’ and chronotype in relation to body composition during adolescence: the DONALD Study. European Journal of Nutrition, 63(1), 253-265.
Jankovic, Nicole; Schmitting, Sarah; Stutz, Bianca; Krüger, Bettina; Buyken, Anette & Alexy, Ute
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Association between glycemic dips and the feeling of hunger after a high glycemic index breakfast among students with earlier and later chronotype- a secondary analysis of the ChroNu study. 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS: Belgrade, Serbia
Stutz, Bianca
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Association between Social Jetlag and Risk Markers of Inflammation and type 2 Diabetes: Results of the DONALD study. Proceedings of the German Nutrition Society. 29: 74
Bodur
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Associations of chronotype and social jetlag with eating jetlag and their changes among German students during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The Chronotype and Nutrition study. Appetite, 180, 106333.
Stutz, B.; Buyken, A.E.; Schadow, A.M.; Jankovic, N.; Alexy, U. & Krueger, B.
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Carbohydrate (CHO) Intake and Quality during Adolescence and Association with HOMA2-IR in Adulthood—The Role of the Chronotype. Proceedings of the 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 91: 119
Jankovic, Nicole
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Essen gegen die innere Uhr: Effekte einer morgens bzw. abends verzehrten Mahlzeit mit einem hohen glykämischen Index auf die Glukoseantwort bei Menschen mit früherem und späterem Chronotyp. 60. DGE-Kongress, Bonn. Proceedings of the German Nutrition Society 29 ISBN: 978-3-88749-282-3
Stutz, Bianca
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The association of chronotype and social jet lag with body composition in German students: The role of physical activity behaviour and the impact of the pandemic lockdown. PLOS ONE, 18(1), e0279620.
Krueger, Bettina; Stutz, Bianca; Jankovic, Nicole; Alexy, Ute; Kilanowski, Anna; Libuda, Lars & Buyken, Anette E.
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Association between glucose dips and the feeling of hunger in a dietary intervention study among students with early and late chronotype-secondary analysis of a randomized cross-over nutrition trial. Appetite, 200, 107569.
Stutz, B.; Goletzke, J.; Krueger, B.; Jankovic, N.; Alexy, U.; Herder, C.; Jakobsmeyer, R.; Reinsberger, C. & Buyken, A.E.
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Differences in circadian and general eating patterns according to four months of full breastfeeding in infants of the DONALD study. Proceedings of the German Nutrition Society. 30
Lesani
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Glycemic response to meals with a high glycemic index differs between morning and evening: a randomized cross-over controlled trial among students with early or late chronotype. European Journal of Nutrition, 63(5), 1593-1604.
Stutz, Bianca; Krueger, Bettina; Goletzke, Janina; Jankovic, Nicole; Alexy, Ute; Herder, Christian; Dierkes, Jutta; Berg-Beckhoff, Gabriele; Jakobsmeyer, Rasmus; Reinsberger, Claus & Buyken, Anette E.
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Infant circadian eating patterns show no association with BMI-SDS or body composition in pre- and primary-school age – results of the DONALD study. Proceedings of the German Nutrition Society. 30
Perrar
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Relevance of high glycaemic index breakfast for heart rate variability among collegiate students with early and late chronotypes. Chronobiology International, 41(11), 1389-1398.
Krueger, Bettina; Stutz, Bianca; Jakobsmeyer, Rasmus; Reinsberger, Claus & Buyken, Anette E.
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Relevance of High Glycemic Index Breakfast for Heart Rate Variability among Young Students with Early and Late Chronotypes. The 14th European Nutrition Conference FENS 2023, 259. MDPI.
Krueger, Bettina; Stutz, Bianca; Jakobsmeyer, Rasmus; Reinsberger, Claus & Buyken, Anette
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Chronotyp und Glukosestoffwechsel; invited talk at the Diabetes Kongress; Berlin 11.5.2024
Buyken, Anette E.
