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

Abstract

Young adults with a later chronotype are vulnerable for a discrepancy in sleep rhythm between work- and free days, called social jet lag (SJL). This study analysed (i) chronotype/SJL association with visceral fat/skeletal muscle mass, (ii) the attribution to physical activity behaviour, and (iii) chronotype-specific changes in physical activity behaviour in young adults during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. Chronotype and SJL were derived from the Munich-Chrono-Type-Questionnaire in 320 German students (age 18-25 years) from September 2019 to January 2020, 156 of these participated in an online follow-up survey in June 2020. Body composition was assessed by bioimpedance analysis at baseline. Multivariable linear regression analyses were used to relate chronotype/SJL to body composition; the contribution of self-reported physical activity was tested by mediation analysis. At baseline, a later chronotype and a larger SJL were associated with a higher visceral fat mass (P<0.05), this relation was notably mediated by the attention to physical activity (P<0.05). Chronotype (P = 0.02) but not SJL (P = 0.87) was inversely associated with skeletal muscle mass. During the pandemic lockdown, chronotype hardly changed, but SJL was reduced. Timing and physical activity behaviour remained in most participants and changes were unrelated to chronotype (all P>0.07). A later chronotype/higher SJL may increase the risk of a higher visceral fat mass even in this relatively healthy sample, which may be partly due to their physical activity behaviour. Despite a reduction in SJL during the pandemic lockdown, later chronotypes did not change their physical activity behaviour more than earlier chronotypes.

Fig 1

Least square means of body composition measures (95% confidence intervals) by chronotype or social jetlag tertiles: Upper panels: (A) Visceral fat mass (kg) or (B) skeletal muscle mass by tertiles of chronotype. Time in each tertile represents the mean midpoint of sleep—corrected for sleep debt during the week—in the respective tertile. P for trend = 0.048 in (A) and = 0.021 in (B). Lower Panels: (C) visceral fat mass (kg) or (D) skeletal muscle mass by tertiles of SJL. Time in each tertile represents the mean SJL. P for trend = 0.011 in (C) and = 0.869 in (D). Models in panel (A) and (C) are least-square means adjusted for age, sex, and living in shared apartments. Models in (B) and (D) are adjusted for age, sex and height. P-values refers to the value obtained from the multivariable regression model using chronotype or social jetlag as a continuous variable.