Epidemiologic findings on the relationship of time of day and time since last meal to glucose tolerance

Data from 10,559 men and women, age 30-64, participating in the morning and afternoon in a Chicago Health Department multiphasic screening project, were used to determine the effects of time of day and time since last meal on the values for plasma glucose one and two hours following oral challenge with 100 gm. of glucose. Mean plasma glucose values and rates of suspect glucose intolerance (based on several cutpoints) were sizeably higher in the afternoon than in the morning. In addition, plasma glucose values increased with time elapsed since the last meal, up to 10 hr postprandially. Thereafter, both one- and two-hour plasma glucose values tended to exhibit a decline. Analysis of covariance confirmed that fluctuations in glucose tolerance were related to time of day and time since last meal, but the effects of each parameter were exerted independently.