Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Sleep Sci 2022; 15(S 02): 314-317
DOI: 10.5935/1984-0063.20200130
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

The influence of chronotype on the body mass index of U.S. college students

Myra Jane Bloom
1   Oral Roberts University, University Libraries - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Scarlet Rae Jost
2   Oral Roberts University, Health, Leisure, & Sport Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Donald Paul Keating
2   Oral Roberts University, Health, Leisure, & Sport Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Andrew Stuart Ian Donald Lang
3   Oral Roberts University, Computing & Mathematics - Tulsa - OK - United States
,
Nancy Viola Mankin
2   Oral Roberts University, Health, Leisure, & Sport Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Zachary William Mast
3   Oral Roberts University, Computing & Mathematics - Tulsa - OK - United States
,
Ericka Rachel McMahan
4   Oral Roberts University, Behavioral Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Jonathan Abdou Merheb
5   Oral Roberts University, School of Engineering - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Philip Paul Nelson
4   Oral Roberts University, Behavioral Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Joshua Chinweoke Nnaji
2   Oral Roberts University, Health, Leisure, & Sport Sciences - Tulsa - OK - United States.
,
Enrique Francisco Valderrama
3   Oral Roberts University, Computing & Mathematics - Tulsa - OK - United States
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

ABSTRACT

Objectives: The relationship between a college student’s chronotype and body mass index (BMI) is important to understand for university decision makers who want to build healthy and inclusive academic communities. This study aimed to evaluate how a student’s chronotype influences their BMI.

Material and Methods: Participants were college students from Oral Roberts University (n=384) with a mean age of 18.94 years, a mean BMI of 24.7kg/m2, and a mean morningness-eveningness questionnaire (MEQ) score of 47.65. Results: BMI values were significantly correlated with both chronotype (r=-.11, β=-.09, p=.03) and age (r=.12, β=.53, p=.02). The rate at which BMI increased with age depended upon the student’s chronotype (β=.81-.005 / MEQ, p=.005). The later the chronotype, the higher the rate of increase. Race had no significant influence on MEQ or BMI values except in the case of students who identified as Black and female. These students were found, on average, to have significantly higher BMI values (p<.01). Conclusion: For college students, BMI tends to increase over time and at a rate that is dependent upon chronotype. The later the chronotype, the faster the rate at which BMI increases. BMI values were found to be significantly higher for Black females. However, this result is potentially spurious, as BMI does not take into account differences in body composition between genders and race/ethnicity groups.

Keywords:

Body Mass Index - Sleep Hygiene - Students - Universities


Publication History

Received: 01 February 2021

Accepted: 19 March 2021

Article published online:
01 December 2023

© 2023. Brazilian Sleep Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil

 

  • REFERENCES

  • 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Division of nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. About adult BMI [Internet]. Atlanta, GA: CDC; 2020; [access in 2021 Jan 29]. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi
  • 2 Nuttall FQ. Body mass index: obesity, BMI, and health: a critical review. Nutr Today. 2015 Jun;50(3):117-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.20200130202001300092
  • 3 Hales CM, Carroll MD, Fryar CD, Ogden CL. National Center for Health Statistics. Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States, 2017-2018. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); 2020.
  • 4 Grasdalsmoen M, Eriksen HR, Lønning KJ, Sivertsen B. Physical exercise and body-mass index in young adults: a national survey of Norwegian university students. BMC Public Health. 2019 Oct;19:1354. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7650-z
  • 5 Department of Health and Human Services (US). Office of disease prevention and health promotion. Nutrition, physical activity, and obesity [Internet]. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2020; [access in 2021 Jan 29]. Available from: https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/leading-health-indicators/2020-lhi-topics/Nutrition-Physical-Activity-and-Obesity
  • 6 Key J, Gersema E. Fitbits reveal the truth: we’re not as active as we claim to be. University of Southern California (USC) News [Internet]. 2018 Apr; [access in 2021 Jan 29]. Available from: https://news.usc.edu/140832/physical-fitness-america-tracking-devices-not-active/
  • 7 Kohl HW, Craig CL, Lambert EV, Inoue S, Alkandari JR, Leetongin G, et al. The pandemic of physical inactivity: global action for public health. Lancet. 2012 Jul;380(9838):294-305. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60898-8
  • 8 Rahman M, Temple JR, Breitkopf CR, Berenson AB. Racial differences in body fat distribution among reproductive-aged women. Metab Clin Exp. 2009 Sep;58(9):1329-37. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.metabol.2009.04.017
  • 9 Rahman M, Berenson AB. Accuracy of current body mass index obesity classification for white, black, Hispanic reproductive-age women. Obstet Gynecol. 2010 May;115(5):982-8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181da9423
  • 10 Gasperino J. Ethnic differences in body composition and their relation to health and disease in women. Ethn Health. 1996;1(4):337-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13557858.1996.9961803
  • 11 Price AA, Whitt-Glover MC, Kraus CL, McKenzie MJ. Body composition, fitness status, and health behaviors upon entering college: an examination of female college students from diverse populations. Clin Med Insights Womens Health. 2016 Jun;9(Suppl 1):23-9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4137/CMWH.S34697
  • 12 Horne JA, Östberg O. A self-assessment questionnaire to determine morningness-eveningness in human circadian rhythms. Int J Chronobiol. 1976;4(2):97-110.
  • 13 Fischer D, Lombardi DA, Marucci-Wellman H, Roenneberg T. Chronotypes in the US - influence of age and sex. PLoS One. 2017 Jun;12(6):e0178782. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0178782
  • 14 Ferguson C, Kaneta L, Li A, Nelson P, Satralkar M, Lang A. Chronotype as a predictor of academic success of university freshman. Int J Psychol Neurosci [Internet]. 2018 Aug; [cited 2021 Jan 29]; 4(2):37-48. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334442485_Chronotype_as_a_Predictor_of_Academic_Success_of_University_Freshmen
  • 15 Goldin AP, Sigman M, Braier G, Golombek DA, Leone MJ. Interplay of chronotype and school timing predicts school performance. Nat Hum Behav. 2020 Feb;4:387-96. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-0820-2
  • 16 Allee MF, Anderson SE, Bloom MJ, Jost SR, Keating DP, Lang ASID, et al. The influence of chronotype and grit on lifestyle and physical activity. Build Healthy Acad Commun J. 2020;4(2):57-70. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18061/bhac.v4i2.7617
  • 17 Culnan E, Kloss JD, Grandner M. A prospective study of weight gain associated with chronotype among college freshmen. Chronobiol Int. 2013;30(5):682-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3109/07420528.2013.782311
  • 18 Arora T, Taheri S. Associations among late chronotype, body mass index and dietary behaviors in young adolescents. Int J Obes. 2015 Aug;39:39-44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.157
  • 19 Punder K, Heim C, Entringer S. Association between chronotype and body mass index: the role of C-reactive protein and the cortisol response to stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2019 Nov;109:104388. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2019.104388
  • 20 Brum MCB, Dantas Filho FF, Schnorr CC, Bertoletti OA, Bottega GB, Rodrigues TC. Night shift work, short sleep and obesity. Diabetol Metab Syndr. 2020 Feb;12:13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13098-020-0524-9
  • 21 Bloom M, Jost S, Keating D, Lang A, Mankin N, Mast Z, et al. Dataset: the influence of chronotype on the body mass index of US college students. Figshare Dataset. 2021 Jan 21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13623827.v1
  • 22 R Core Team. R: A language and environment for statistical computing [Internet]. Vienna: R Foundation for Statistical Computing; 2020; [access in 2021 Jan 29]. Available from: http://www.R-project.org