The Association Between Diet Quality and Chrononutritional Patterns in Young Adults

Overview

Journal Eur J Nutr

Specialty Nutritional Sciences

Date 2024 Feb 22

PMID 38386041

Authors

Leanne Wang

Virginia Chan

Margaret Allman-Farinelli

Alyse Davies

Lyndal Wellard-Cole

Anna Rangan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Purpose: Young adults eat erratically and later in the day which may impact weight and cardiometabolic health. This cross-sectional study examined relationships between chrononutritional patterns and diet quality in two young adult populations: a university and community sample.

Methods: Three days of dietary data were collected including food images captured using wearable cameras. Chrononutritional variables were extracted: time of first and last eating occasions, caloric midpoint (time at which 50% of daily energy was consumed), number of eating occasions per day, eating window, day-to-day variability of the above metrics, and evening eating (≥20:00h). The Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults scored diet quality. Statistical analyses controlled for gender, body mass index, and socio-economic status.

Results: No significant associations between chrononutritional patterns and diet quality were found for all participants (n = 95). However, differences in diet quality were found between university (n = 54) and community (n = 41) samples with average diet quality scores of 59.1 (SD 9.7) and 47.3 (SD 14.4), respectively. Of those who extended eating ≥20:00 h, university participants had better diet quality (62.9±SE 2.5 vs. 44.3±SE 2.3, p < 0.001) and discretionary scores (7.9±SE 0.9 vs. 1.6±SE 0.6, p < 0.001) than community participants. University participants consumed predominately healthful dinners and fruit ≥20:00h whereas community participants consumed predominately discretionary foods.

Conclusion: For the general young adult population, meal timing needs to be considered. Food choices made by this cohort may be poorer during evenings when the desire for energy-dense nutrient-poor foods is stronger. However, meal timing may be less relevant for young adults who already engage in healthy dietary patterns.

References

Teixeira G, Guimaraes K, Soares A, Marqueze E, Moreno C, Mota M . Role of chronotype in dietary intake, meal timing, and obesity: a systematic review. Nutr Rev. 2022; 81(1):75-90. DOI: 10.1093/nutrit/nuac044. View

Lopez-Minguez J, Dashti H, Madrid-Valero J, Madrid J, Saxena R, Scheer F . Heritability of the timing of food intake. Clin Nutr. 2018; 38(2):767-773. PMC: 6135708. DOI: 10.1016/j.clnu.2018.03.002. View

Beccuti G, Monagheddu C, Evangelista A, Ciccone G, Broglio F, Soldati L . Timing of food intake: Sounding the alarm about metabolic impairments? A systematic review. Pharmacol Res. 2017; 125(Pt B):132-141. DOI: 10.1016/j.phrs.2017.09.005. View

Wang L, Chan V, Allman-Farinelli M, Davies A, Wellard-Cole L, Rangan A . Wearable Cameras Reveal Large Intra-Individual Variability in Timing of Eating among Young Adults. Nutrients. 2022; 14(20). PMC: 9611808. DOI: 10.3390/nu14204349. View

Leech R, Timperio A, Livingstone K, Worsley A, McNaughton S . Temporal eating patterns: associations with nutrient intakes, diet quality, and measures of adiposity. Am J Clin Nutr. 2017; 106(4):1121-1130. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.117.156588. View

Winkler G, Doring A, Keil U . Meal patterns in middle-aged men in Southern Germany: results from the MONICA Augsburg dietary survey 1984/85. Appetite. 1999; 32(1):33-7. DOI: 10.1006/appe.1998.0193. View

Kant A, Graubard B . Within-person comparison of eating behaviors, time of eating, and dietary intake on days with and without breakfast: NHANES 2005-2010. Am J Clin Nutr. 2015; 102(3):661-70. PMC: 4548175. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.115.110262. View

Zhao L, Teong X, Liu K, Liu B, Melaku Y, Vincent A . Eating architecture in adults at increased risk of type 2 diabetes: associations with body fat and glycaemic control. Br J Nutr. 2021; 128(2):324-333. DOI: 10.1017/S0007114521002944. View

Zeron-Rugerio M, Hernaez A, Porras-Loaiza A, Cambras T, Izquierdo-Pulido M . Eating Jet Lag: A Marker of the Variability in Meal Timing and Its Association with Body Mass Index. Nutrients. 2019; 11(12). PMC: 6950551. DOI: 10.3390/nu11122980. View

10.

Wittig F, Hummel E, Wenzler G, Heuer T . Energy and macronutrient intake over the course of the day of German adults: A DEDIPAC-study. Appetite. 2017; 114:125-136. DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2017.03.018. View

11.

Makarem N, Sears D, St-Onge M, Zuraikat F, Gallo L, Talavera G . Variability in Daily Eating Patterns and Eating Jetlag Are Associated With Worsened Cardiometabolic Risk Profiles in the American Heart Association Go Red for Women Strategically Focused Research Network. J Am Heart Assoc. 2021; 10(18):e022024. PMC: 8649529. DOI: 10.1161/JAHA.121.022024. View

12.

Fleischer J, Das S, Bhapkar M, Manoogian E, Panda S . Associations between the timing of eating and weight-loss in calorically restricted healthy adults: Findings from the CALERIE study. Exp Gerontol. 2022; 165:111837. DOI: 10.1016/j.exger.2022.111837. View

13.

Eicher-Miller H, Khanna N, Boushey C, Gelfand S, Delp E . Temporal Dietary Patterns Derived among the Adult Participants of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 1999-2004 Are Associated with Diet Quality. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2015; 116(2):283-291. PMC: 4696922. DOI: 10.1016/j.jand.2015.05.014. View

14.

Sierra-Johnson J, Unden A, Linestrand M, Rosell M, Sjogren P, Kolak M . Eating meals irregularly: a novel environmental risk factor for the metabolic syndrome. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008; 16(6):1302-7. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2008.203. View

15.

Wennberg M, Gustafsson P, Wennberg P, Hammarstrom A . Irregular eating of meals in adolescence and the metabolic syndrome in adulthood: results from a 27-year prospective cohort. Public Health Nutr. 2015; 19(4):667-73. PMC: 10271199. DOI: 10.1017/S1368980015001445. View

16.

Farshchi H, Taylor M, MacDonald I . Regular meal frequency creates more appropriate insulin sensitivity and lipid profiles compared with irregular meal frequency in healthy lean women. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2004; 58(7):1071-7. DOI: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601935. View

17.

Meth E, van Egmond L, Moulin T, Cedernaes J, Rosqvist F, Benedict C . Association of Daily Eating Duration and Day-To-Day Variability in the Timing of Eating With Fatal Cancer Risk in Older Men. Front Nutr. 2022; 9:889926. PMC: 9127957. DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2022.889926. View

18.

Farshchi H, Taylor M, Macdonald I . Beneficial metabolic effects of regular meal frequency on dietary thermogenesis, insulin sensitivity, and fasting lipid profiles in healthy obese women. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005; 81(1):16-24. DOI: 10.1093/ajcn/81.1.16. View

19.

Alkhulaifi F, Darkoh C . Meal Timing, Meal Frequency and Metabolic Syndrome. Nutrients. 2022; 14(9). PMC: 9102985. DOI: 10.3390/nu14091719. View

20.

Djuric Z, Nikolic M, Zekovic M, Plegue M, Glibetic M . Association of meal timing with dietary quality in a Serbian population sample. BMC Nutr. 2020; 6:45. PMC: 7580008. DOI: 10.1186/s40795-020-00375-2. View