Association Between the Individual Chronotype and Body Composition in German Students - The ChroNu Study

NCT04302922 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: BU 1807/3-2
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 327
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Chronotype is defined as the midpoint of sleep and describes a biological construct of an organism's temporal organisation. Misalignment between the individual chronotype and socially determined schedules may result in a phenomenon called "social jetlag". Emerging evidence indicates that both, a later chronotype and/or a substantial "social jetlag" adversely affects metabolic health. Young adults may be particularly vulnerable to these exposures since the chronotype progressively delays from adolescence until early adulthood (approx. 20 years of age) before it advances again. Simultaneously, education in institutions or working hours starts early during the day, potentially contribute to substantial "social jetlag". Data on the development of overweight / obesity prevalence in Germany indicates that rates are now constant or declining in most adult age groups, with the clear exception of young adults, in whom rates continue to be on the rise. Nonetheless, the potential contribution of chronotype and/or social jetlag to this secular trend has not been addressed in Germany. Hence, the hypothesis of the ChroNu cohort is that individual chronotype and social jetlag are predictors of (changes in) the body composition in young adulthood (ages 18-25 years) and that changes in chronotype / social jetlag will result in changes in body composition. The ChroNu cohort forms part of the overall ChroNu study, which addresses the hypothesis that timing of food intake which diverges from the individual chronotype constitutes a characteristic of social jetlag which has adverse short- and long-term consequences for metabolic health (see The ChroNustudy). This study will recruit 300 healthy, non-obese students aged 18-25 years enrolled at Paderborn University until February 2020 and follow these up one year later. Chronotype and social jetlag will be determined using the validated MCTQ. Body composition will be assessed by bioimpedance analysis (BIA) The ChroNu cohort study will reveal important information on the relevance of a biologically determined phenomenon, i.e. the chronotype and the potentially resultant social jetlag for body composition development in a population vulnerable to increases in body fat.

Conditions

Healthy

Keywords

Chronotype; social jetlag; body composition; meal timing; timing of physical activity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change of body fat content from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  Body fat content \[kg\] is measured by bio-impedance analysis (BIA)

  Body fat will be measured both at baseline after enrolment and post-pandemic (follow up).

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Change in weight from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) will be performed together with the BIA measurements both at baseline and post-pandemic (follow-up) and are expected to last approximately 20 minutes each.

• Change in height from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) will be performed together with the BIA measurements both at baseline and post-pandemic (follow-up) and are expected to last approximately 20 minutes each.

• Change in BMI from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) will be performed together with the BIA measurements both at baseline and post-pandemic (follow-up) and are expected to last approximately 20 minutes each.

• Change in waist circumference from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  Anthropometric measurements (weight, height, waist circumference) will be performed together with the BIA measurements both at baseline and post-pandemic (follow-up) and are expected to last approximately 20 minutes each.

• Change in daily routine and physical activity from pre-post Covid-19 pandemic

  The questionaires concerning daily routine, physical activity, meal timing and food frequency will be performed at baseline and post-pandemic (follow-up) and are expected to last approximately 45 minutes each.

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 25 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

students of Paderborn University (see inclusion criteria)

You may qualify if:

• Healthy students of Paderborn University
• years old

You may not qualify if:

• Students studying nutrition science
• shift work in the past 3 months
• crossing of \>1 time zone in the past 3 months
• pregnancy
• lactation
• intake of medication such as antidepressants or sleeping pills

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Paderborn University: lead
• German Research Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Paderborn University

Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, 33098, Germany

Location

Study Officials

• Anette E Buyken, Prof. Dr.

  Paderborn University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Prof. Dr. Anette Buyken, Public Health Nutrition

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 22, 2020
• First Posted: March 10, 2020
• Study Start: September 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: February 29, 2020
• Study Completion: February 28, 2023
• Last Updated: April 3, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-04

Locations

DE (1)