Late meal intake is associated with abdominal obesity and metabolic disorders related to metabolic syndrome: A chrononutrition approach using data from NHANES 2015-2018

Abstract

Background & aims: Chrononutrition is an emerging area that suggests that late eating time is associated with poor nutritional and metabolic outcomes. However, epidemiological studies are scarce on this topic. The aim of this study was to characterize the chrononutrition patterns in a large and representative US population (NHANES 2015-2016 and 2017-2018) of adults and elderly and investigate their association with obesity and metabolic disorders that make up the metabolic syndrome.

Methods: A total of 7379 adults and elderly individuals were included in the analysis. Meal timing data were collected through two 24-h dietary recalls in both cycles. Poisson regression adjusted for confounders was used to evaluate the association between chrononutrition variables (eating duration and tertiles of first and last meal timing, eating midpoint and eating occasions) and obesity, abdominal obesity and metabolic parameters from metabolic syndrome.

Results: Adults with a longer eating duration (>12 h) had a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (IRR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03-1.28) when compared with those who ate their meals in a shorter eating duration (≤12 h). In addition, adults in the third tertile of the time of the last meal (mean 22:03) had a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity (IRR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01-1.25) compared to first tertile. Adults with later eating midpoints (second and third tertile) had a higher prevalence of elevated fasting glucose (IRR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.07-1.59 and IRR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.22-2.22, respectively). Among the elderly, participants with a longer eating duration (>12 h) had a higher prevalence of elevated triglycerides (IRR, 2.74; 95% CI, 1.25-5.96) when compared with those elderly who ate their meals in a shorter eating duration (≤12 h).

Conclusion: These findings suggest that a long eating duration and late first and last meal timing are chrononutrition patterns associated with cardiometabolic risks in free-living Americans.

Keywords: Abdominal obesity; Chrononutrition; Meal timing; Metabolic syndrome; Survey.