(OR28-03-24) Chrononutrition and Cardiometabolic Health in Older Adults From the Study of Muscle, Mobility and Aging (SOMMA)

Objectives: Dietary guidelines on cardiometabolic health emphasize the quantity and quality of food intake but often overlook meal timing. Given the critically low prevalence of optimal metabolic health (0.4%) in those ≥65 years, we examined the link between chrononutrition behaviors and cardiometabolic health in older adults from the SOMMA study.

Methods: We analyzed data from 828 men and women aged 76.5±5.0y, who were able to walk ¼ mile, and had a BMI of 18-40 kg/m², with available dietary data. We assessed chrononutrition behaviors, i.e., time of the first and last food/beverage consumption, eating window, and frequency, using two 24-hour food recalls collected via the ASA24 tool. Multivariable regression was used to determine the link between chrononutrition behaviors, obesity (BMI >30 kg/m²), and VO₂ peak (ml/kg/min) as outcomes. These models were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, marital status, site, smoking, alcohol, self-rated health, history of heart disease, stroke, COPD, diabetes, height, physical activity, depression, enrollment after COVID-19, daily energy and fiber intake, and diet quality.

Results: The average eating window was 11.0±1.9 (SD) hours/day with the first intake time at 08:22, the last at 19:22, and the eating frequency of 4±1 occasions per day. On average, each hour delay in the first intake time was associated with 1.15 times higher odds of obesity (95% CI: 1.02-1.29) in the adjusted logistic regression models. Of note, participants with later first intake times had shorter eating durations and large waist circumferences (men >40", women >35"), than those eating earlier, P < 0.001. In participants with available VO₂ data (n=776), earlier first and later last food/beverage intake times, longer eating durations, and higher eating frequencies were associated with a greater VO₂ peak in unadjusted linear regression models (P < 0.01). However, after multivariable adjustment, only each hour earlier in the first intake time (β±SE: -0.24±0.09) and each one-hour increment in eating window (0.19±0.07) were associated with greater VO₂ peaks, P < 0.01.

Conclusions: Our findings underscore impact of chrononutrition on cardiometabolic health in community-living older adults, advocating for including meal timing with diet quality and quantity to enhance health.

Funding Sources: National Institute on Aging