Photo Credit: Tatomm

The time a person eats impacts BMI, according to a study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. The study authors described sex-specific chrono-nutritional patterns and assessed their association with BMI and how sleep impacts this relationship. The analysis included data from 7,074 adults (aged 40 to 65 years) participating in the Genomes for Life cohort in Spain. The researchers found that a later first meal (β 1 h increase = 0.32; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.47) and more eating occasions (only in women; β 1 more eating occasion = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.51) were associated with a higher BMI. People who fasted for longer durations during the nighttime tended to have a lower BMI (β 1 h increase = –0.27). These associations were strongest in premenopausal women. In men, longitudinal analyses supported the associations with time of first meal and nighttime fasting duration. Some sex-specific clusters emerged and mostly differed in several eating occasions and time of the first meal. A cluster of late first meals showed lower education and higher unemployment in men, as well as higher BMI for both sexes.