Is Abdominal Fat Distribution Associated with Chronotype in Adults Independently of Lifestyle Factors?

Abstract

Both abdominal obesity and its visceral component are independently associated with cardiometabolic diseases. Among the non-modifiable and modifiable determinants, lifestyle plays a central role, while chronotype is an emerging factor. Evening type (E-Type), more active and efficient in the last part of the day, has been associated with a health-impairing style, resulting in a higher risk of obesity and cardiometabolic diseases than morning type (M-Type). However, no study has examined the contribution of chronotype to abdominal fat distribution, even considering adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD). We conducted a cross-sectional study on 416 adults (69.5% females, 50 ± 13 years). Waist circumference (WC), visceral fat (VAT) using ultrasonography, chronotype through the reduced Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (rMEQ), and adherence to MD were studied. Our results showed no differences in WC and VAT between chronotypes. However, adherence to MD resulted significantly lower in the E-Types compared to M-Types. WC decreased with increasing Mediterranean score and rMEQ score, and VAT decreased with increasing rMEQ score, indicating that E-Types have +2 cm of WC and +0.5 cm of VAT compared to M-Types. In conclusion, these results showed that chronotype is independently associated with abdominal obesity and visceral fat, underlining the potential implications of the individual circadian typology on abdominal obesity.

Keywords: Mediterranean diet; abdominal fat distribution; abdominal obesity; chrononutrition; chronotype; circadian typology; visceral fat.