The relationship between chronotype and obesity: A systematic review

ABSTRACT

Referring to the hours during a day when a person’s physical and cognitive functions are active, the chronotype indicates the differences in individual preferences in sleep timing and other behaviors. The fact that the evening chronotype has been associated with adverse health outcomes has raised the issue of relationship between chronotype and obesity. This study aims to synthesize the evidence regarding the relationship between chronotype and obesity. As part of the study, the PubMed, OVID-LWW, Scopus, Taylor & Francis, ScienceDirect, MEDLINE Complete, Cochrane Library and ULAKBIM databases were screened for the articles published between January 01, 2010 and December 31, 2020. The quality of each study was assessed independently by the two researchers using the “Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies.” Upon evaluating the screening results, a total of seven studies, one of high quality and six of medium quality, were included in the systematic review. The rate of the minor allele (C) genes, which have been associated with obesity, and SIRT1-CLOCK genes, which have an additional effect in favor of resistance against weight loss, is higher in individuals of evening chronotype, and such individuals have been observed to have significantly higher resistance to weight loss. The evening chronotype individuals have been associated with a higher homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) value, higher plasma ghrelin levels, and a tendency toward a higher body mass index (BMI). The evening chronotypes have been reported to adhere less to a healthy diet and have more unhealthy behaviors and eating patterns. A diet adjusted to the chronotype has been seen to be more effective than conventional hypocaloric diet therapy in terms of anthropometric parameters. Most people who eat their main meals late are of evening chronotype, and such people have been determined to lose significantly less weight than those who eat early. It has been shown that bariatric surgery is less effective in weight loss in evening chronotype patients than in morning chronotype patients. The evening chronotypes are less successful in adapting to weight loss treatments and long-term weight control than the morning chronotypes.

KEYWORDS:

• Chronotype
• obesity
• obese
• systematic review

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.