Social jetlag and DXA-derived adiposity in Korean adults: A nationwide study using the 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
- 1University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine, Edinburg, Texas, United States of America
- 2Department of Neurology, Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea
Abstract
Background: Social jetlag, the discrepancy between weekday and weekend sleep timing, is a behavioral marker of circadian timing mismatch and has been linked to obesity, mainly through conventional anthropometric measures. We examined its association with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived adiposity using the nationally representative 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: This cross-sectional study included adults aged ≥40 years reporting usual weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake times. Social jetlag, the absolute difference between weekday and weekend sleep midpoints, was categorized as <1 h, 1– < 2 h, and ≥2 h, with ≥2 h as the primary exposure. The primary outcome was DXA-derived total body fat percentage; subtotal and trunk fat percentages were key secondary outcomes. Height, weight, and waist circumference were obtained by standardized KNHANES examination. Survey-weighted linear regression was adjusted for age, sex, height, average sleep duration, income, education, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, hypertension, and diabetes. Results: Among 4,483 participants, 267 (6.0%) had social jetlag ≥2 h. In fully adjusted models, this group had higher total body fat percentage (β = 0.81 percentage points; P = 0.025), subtotal fat percentage (β = 0.86; P = 0.025), and trunk fat percentage (β = 1.01; P = 0.036), but not higher BMI or waist circumference. Associations persisted after adjustment for depressive symptoms, but were attenuated and no longer significant after adjustment for a chronotype-related proxy, and were not reproduced when social jetlag was corrected for sleep debt. Sleep duration variability showed no association. Conclusions: Social jetlag ≥2 h was associated with modestly higher DXA-derived total and trunk body fat percentage, differences not captured by BMI or waist circumference. Because the associations did not persist in chronotype-adjusted or sleep-corrected analyses, conventional social jetlag may partly reflect compensatory weekend sleep. These findings are hypothesis-generating and need longitudinal confirmation.
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BibTeX
@article{kim2026social,
title = {{Social jetlag and DXA-derived adiposity in Korean adults: A nationwide study using the 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey}},
author = {Soojin Kim and Heewon Bae},
journal = {PLOS One},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0362068},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0362068},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Social jetlag and DXA-derived adiposity in Korean adults: A nationwide study using the 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
AU - Soojin Kim
AU - Heewon Bae
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - PLOS One
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0362068
UR - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0362068
AB - Background: Social jetlag, the discrepancy between weekday and weekend sleep timing, is a behavioral marker of circadian timing mismatch and has been linked to obesity, mainly through conventional anthropometric measures. We examined its association with dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-derived adiposity using the nationally representative 2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES). Methods: This cross-sectional study included adults aged ≥40 years reporting usual weekday and weekend bedtimes and wake times. Social jetlag, the absolute difference between weekday and weekend sleep midpoints, was categorized as <1 h, 1– < 2 h, and ≥2 h, with ≥2 h as the primary exposure. The primary outcome was DXA-derived total body fat percentage; subtotal and trunk fat percentages were key secondary outcomes. Height, weight, and waist circumference were obtained by standardized KNHANES examination. Survey-weighted linear regression was adjusted for age, sex, height, average sleep duration, income, education, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, hypertension, and diabetes. Results: Among 4,483 participants, 267 (6.0%) had social jetlag ≥2 h. In fully adjusted models, this group had higher total body fat percentage (β = 0.81 percentage points; P = 0.025), subtotal fat percentage (β = 0.86; P = 0.025), and trunk fat percentage (β = 1.01; P = 0.036), but not higher BMI or waist circumference. Associations persisted after adjustment for depressive symptoms, but were attenuated and no longer significant after adjustment for a chronotype-related proxy, and were not reproduced when social jetlag was corrected for sleep debt. Sleep duration variability showed no association. Conclusions: Social jetlag ≥2 h was associated with modestly higher DXA-derived total and trunk body fat percentage, differences not captured by BMI or waist circumference. Because the associations did not persist in chronotype-adjusted or sleep-corrected analyses, conventional social jetlag may partly reflect compensatory weekend sleep. These findings are hypothesis-generating and need longitudinal confirmation.
SN - 1932-6203
ER -