A Population Level Descriptive Analysis of Diet Quality According to the Duration of Daily Eating Period: NHANES 2007–2016

Abstract Objectives The time interval during which one consumes food over the course of a day has been identified as a factor that may impact health independent of dietary content. However, there is little evidence on the relationship between the eating duration and diet quality in populations. To begin addressing this gap we calculated an overall diet quality metric according to duration of daily eating period in the 2007–2016 NHANES cycles. Methods Data from 20,896 adults aged 20–79 years who completed 2 days of 24-hour (hr) dietary recalls with time stamps in the 2007–2016 NHANES cycles were analyzed. The daily eating period was defined as the amount of time between the reported first eating episode of the day (>0 kcal) and the last eating episode (>0 kcal) in the 24-hr dietary recall. Time periods for this analysis were defined as (<8hr, 8-< 10hr, 10-< 12hr, 12-< 14hr, 14-< 16hr, 16 + hr). The content of the 24-hour recalls was used to calculate the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI) as a measure of diet quality. Weighted means (±SE) of diet quality according to daily eating period category were calculated with multivariate linear regression models adjusted for age, race, sex, family income to poverty ratio and sleep. Stratification of adjusted estimates by breakfast frequency, smoking status and family income to poverty ratio were performed to further inform interpretation. Results The mean HEI monotonically increased from < 8hr (49.7 ± 0.9) to the 14-< 16hr daily eating period (57.2 ± 0.7) and then decreased at 16 + hr. This pattern was consistent across sub-groups but with significantly higher absolute HEI scores among participants who ate breakfast, were not current smokers, and had higher family income to poverty ratios. Conclusions In the most recent decade of NHANES cycle visits, participants had higher diet quality with a longer daily eating period from < 8hr to 14-< 16hr daily; and participants with a 16 + hr eating duration had lower diet quality. The pattern was consistent but the absolute levels were different by breakfast habits, smoking habits, and family-income to poverty ratio. These data present a representative population level picture of diet quality according to daily eating period, and thus may inform considerations for observational and interventional research around diet quality. Funding Sources This study did not rely on any funding.