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. 2026 Aug 3;65(5):228. doi: 10.1007/s00394-026-04056-x

Table 2.

Sample characteristics for adulthood (N = 227) of the DONALD Study according to chronotypea

Chronotype
N Earlier (113) Later (114)
General characteristics
Age at blood withdrawal (years) 23 (18; 30) 21 (18; 24)
Follow-up (years) 11 (7; 18) 8 (6; 12)
Lifestyle factors during adulthood
No alcohol intake b 14 (16) 32 (31)
Excessive alcohol consumption (yes)c 5 (6) 9 (9)
Currently smoking (yes) 19 (17) 23 (21)
MET-minutes 743 (348; 1314) 681 (441; 1175)
Body composition during adulthood
BMI (kg/m2) 22.9 (21.2; 25.4) 22.9 (21.2; 24.9)
Weight status during adulthood d
Underweight < 18.5 (kg/m2) 7 (6) 4 (4)
Normal weight 18.5–24.9 (kg/m2) 75 (66) 82 (72)
Overweight WHO 25.0–30.0 (kg/m2) 25 (22) 21 (18)
Obesity > 30 (kg/m2) 6 (5) 7 (6)
Risk markers of type 2 diabetes
HOMA2-IR 1.35 (1.07; 1.67) 1.48 (1.20; 1.82)
HSI 32.4 (29.2; 35.4) 31.6 (29.0; 34.8)
FLI 7.6 (4.0; 20.7) 8.3 (4.6; 18.3)
Pro-inflammatory score −0.09 (−0.35; 0.26) −0.07 (−0.40; 0.30)
Single risk markers
Glucose (mg/dl) 90 (86; 97) 91 (86; 96)
Insulin (µlU/ml) 10.4 (8.2; 12.9) 11.5 (9.2; 14.1)
Adiponectin (µg/l) 7.3 (5.4; 10.4) 6.6 (4.7; 9.2)
Triglycerides (mg/dl) 92 (62; 114) 85 (63; 129)
AST (Units/L) 22 (18; 26) 22 (18; 26)
ALT (Units/L) 20 (16; 26) 19 (16; 27)
GGT (Units/L) 14 (11; 20) 13 (11; 19)
hsCRP (mg/l) 1.3 (0.4; 2,4) 0.8 (0.5; 2.5)
Il-6 (pg/ml) 0.7 (0.4; 1.0) 0.7 (0.5; 1.1)
IL-18 (pg/ml) 256 (193; 330) 237 (197; 294)
Leptin (µg/l) 8.6 (3.6; 17.8) 10.3 (4.0; 16.6)

Characteristics are presented as median (Q1, Q3) or n and (%)

DOrtmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed (DONALD); MET, metabolic equivalent of task; BMI, body mass index; WHO, world health organisation; HOMA, homeostatic model assessment; IR, insulin resistance; HSI, hepatic steatosis index; FLI, fatty liver index; AST, aspartate-aminotransferase; ALT, alanine-aminotransferase; GGT, γ-glutamyltransferase; CRP, C-reactive protein; IL, interleukin

aChronotype was assessed by the Munich Chronotype Questionnaire and defined as age and sex adjusted midpoint of sleep on free days corrected for sleep debt on workdays (MSFsc) using all measurements from adolescence up to adulthood applying regression analyses. Earlier and later chronotypes based on the averaged median values of MSFsc;b > 18 years; cfor women > 10 g/d and > 20 g/d for men; daccording to WHO definition