No Effect of Chronotype on Hunger or Snack Consumption during a Night Shift with Acute Sleep Deprivation

Night shift workers experience circadian misalignment and sleep disruption, which impact hunger and food consumption. The study aim was to assess the impact of chronotype on hunger and snack consumption during a night shift with acute sleep deprivation. Seventy-two (36f, 36m) healthy adults participated in a laboratory study. A sleep opportunity (03:00-12:00) was followed by a wake period (12:00-23:00) and a simulated night shift (23:00-07:00). Subjective measures of hunger, prospective consumption, desire to eat fruit, and desire to eat fast food were collected before (12:20, 21:50) and after (07:20) the night shift. Snack opportunities were provided before (15:10, 19:40) and during (23:50, 03:30) the night shift. A tertile split of the dim light melatonin onset (DLMO) distribution defined early (20:24 ± 0:42 h), intermediate (21:31 ± 0:12 h), and late chronotype (22:56 ± 0:54 h) categories. There were no main effects of chronotype on any subjective measure (p = 0.172-0.975), or on snack consumption (p = 0.420), and no interactions between chronotype and time of day on any subjective measure (p = 0.325-0.927) or on snack consumption (p = 0.511). Differences in circadian timing between chronotype categories were not associated with corresponding differences in hunger, prospective consumption, desire to eat fruit, desire to eat fast food, or snack consumption at any measurement timepoint.