Association of eating duration less than 8 h with all-cause, cardiovascular, and cancer mortality

To assess the association between eating duration less than 8 h and all-cause and cause-specific mortality.

Adult participants who reported usual intake from two valid 24-h dietary recalls were included from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2003-2018 (n = 19,831). Mortality status as of December 2019 was obtained through linkage to the National Death Index. Average eating duration was categorized as <8, 8-<10, 10-<12, 12-14 h (mean duration), >14-16, and >16 h. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were derived.

During a median follow-up of 8.1 years, compared with eating duration of 12-14 h, eating duration <8 h was robustly associated with higher cardiovascular mortality (HR, 2.35 [95 % CI, 1.39-3.98]), but not with all-cause and cancer mortality. The positive association with cardiovascular mortality remained consistent across 8 subgroups stratified by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, and smoking status, and survived 14 sensitivity analyses. However, the association with all-cause mortality did not survive many sensitivity analyses.

Although a positive association was observed between eating duration <8 h and cardiovascular mortality, further research is required to understand whether this risk is attributed to the short eating duration itself or residual confounding resulting from its contributing factors.