The relationship between chrononutrition profile, social jet lag and obesity: A cross-sectional study of Chinese college students

This study aimed to investigate the associations between chrononutrition profile, social jet lag (SJL) with obesity-related indicators (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHTR), and percentage of body fat (PBF)). This cross-sectional study was conducted among college students in a university in Hunan Province, China, from 14 September 2023 to 8 June 2024. This study employed the Chrononutrition Profile – Questionnaire (CP-Q) along with physical examinations. SJL was defined as time difference of midpoint of sleep between the workdays and freedays. Sleep-corrected SJL (SJLsc) is the absolute difference between the sleep onset on free days and workdays. Average evening latency is the time between the last meal of the day and bedtime. Eating jet lag is the difference in the midpoint of the eating window between workdays and freedays. Logistic regression was utilized to assess the associations between chrononutrition profile, SJL, and obesity-related indicators among college students. A total of 805 participants were recruited, of which 695 have complete data after excluding those who did not meet the inclusion criteria. After adjusting for potential covariates, average evening latency <4 h was related with lower risk of high BMI, WC, and PBF [OR (95% CI) = 0.435 (0.285–0.663), 0.508 (0.305–0.848), 0.564 (0.402–0.792), respectively]. Average eating window >12 h was associated with a lower risk of high BMI, WC, and PBF [OR (95% CI) = 0.511 (0.327–0.800), 0.485 (0.277–0.851), 0.651 (0.456–0.930), respectively]. Last eating occasion jet lag >1 h was a higher risk of high PBF [OR (95% CI) = 1.554 (1.018–2.371)]. SJLsc > 1 h was associated with high PBF [OR (95% CI) = 1.527 (1.073–2.174)]. Circadian rhythm disruptions, including SJL and eating jet lag, are prevalent among college students. Long eating window, short evening latency, is associated with low risk of obesity, while short sleep duration, last eating occasion jet lag and larger SJLsc were associated with higher risk of obesity among youths.