The relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between diurnal timing of food intake and overweight or type 2 diabetes risk

• Applicants: Dr. Ute Alexy; Professorin Dr. Anette Buyken; Professor Dr. Christian Herder
• Subject Area: Nutritional Sciences ; Public Health, Healthcare Research, Social and Occupational Medicine
• Term: from 2014 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 254799859

Emerging evidence underpins a role of circadian eating pattern for the development of cardiometabolic diseases. Our previous project provides new evidence that particularly the habitual consumption of higher glycaemic index (GI) carbohydrate intakes in the evening may have adverse consequences for type 2 diabetes risk markers in young adulthood. Additionally, cross-sectional evidence indicates that later chronotypes have higher energy intakes at later times of the day. Hence the shift towards a later chronotype during adolescence until young adulthood and/or a misalignment between chronotype and timing of food intake due to social schedules may partially explain why this life-span emerges as a “critical time window” for the development of chronic diseases. From a life-course perspective it is crucial to also elucidate the potential shaping of circadian eating patterns already during infancy.Therefore, the overall aim of this project is to investigate the relevance of circadian eating pattern and/or chronotype for metabolic health from infancy to young adulthood. Specifically, our project addresses whether a misalignment between the timing of energy and carbohydrate intake and individual circadian rhythm as captured by chronotype has adverse short- and long-term consequences for metabolic health and whether breast- or bottle-feeding in infancy is relevant for circadian eating pattern and body composition later in life.To address these questions a short-term controlled nutrition trial and secondary analyses of data from the open-cohort DONALD study will be conducted. The cross-over trial will be performed enrolling each 20 university students (non-obese, 18-25 years) with an earlier and a later chronotype. Using continuous glucose monitoring it will be tested whether the 2-h and diurnal blood glucose levels and glycaemic variability differ in response to days where the same meal rich in higher GI carbohydrates is provided at breakfast (i.e. misalignment among later chronotypes) or dinner(i.e. misalignment among earlier chronotypes). Moreover, the project takes advantage of prospectively collected data from infants, children and adolescents of the DONALD study. Regular assessments include 3-day weighed dietary records with daytime-specific dietary data and anthropometric measurements, as well as a questionnaire on the individual chronotype. Additionally, fasting blood samples are drawn in young adulthood that allow investigating the prospective relevance for type 2 diabetes risk factors.The project will be the first to provide detailed information on the relevance of chronotype and infant feeding for the link between circadian eating pattern and metabolic health both over the short- and long-term. This way the project will contribute evidence needed for dietary recommendations in age groups at substantial risk for social jetlag.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants