Meal Timing Patterns and Associations with Fat Mass in Adolescents

Area of Science:

• Adolescent Health
• Nutritional Science
• Obesity Research

Background:

• Energy intake timing is a potential factor in obesity development.
• Existing evidence primarily comes from adults and uses limited obesity outcome measures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To characterize adolescent meal timing patterns.
• To investigate associations between meal timing and fat mass in adolescents.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Sleep and Growth Study 2 (S-Grow2) with 286 participants (12-13 years old).
• Defined meal timing traits using 3-day dietary recalls and analyzed patterns via Principal Component Analysis (PCA).
• Assessed associations between meal timing patterns and fat mass index (FMI) using quantile regression.

Main Results:

• Identified three distinct meal timing patterns: 'Delayed Start, Condensed Eating Period', 'Late, Sleep Proximal Eating', and 'Later Energy Intake'.
• The 'Delayed Start, Condensed Eating Period' pattern, characterized by a shorter eating window and later start, was associated with higher body mass index and FMI at the upper distribution tails.

Conclusions:

• Multidimensional meal timing patterns are evident in early adolescence.
• A delayed start and condensed eating period may be associated with increased adiposity in adolescents.