(OR34-01-24) Meal Timing Trajectories and All-Cause Mortality in Older Adults

Objectives: The timing of food intake is an emerging nutritional risk factor and mistimed food intake is independently associated with adverse health outcomes. The aim of this longitudinal analysis was to describe meal timing trajectories in an aging older population and their relationships with all-cause mortality.

Methods: Participants were older White British adult residents followed from 1982 to 2010 from the community-based University of Manchester Longitudinal Study of Cognition in Normal Healthy Old Age. Participants responded to the questions, “What time do you eat breakfast/lunch/dinner?” and “What time do you go to bed/get up?” up to 5 times from 1986 to 2010. Two more variables (time interval between get up to breakfast and between dinner to bed) were derived. Mortality was determined from the England NHS Digital death registration. Meal timing trajectories were examined using linear mixed models and their relationship with all-cause mortality using adjusted Cox hazard proportional regression models accounting for sex, bed and wake times, overall health, and socio-demographic factors. A P value of < 0.05 was considered significant.

Results: The study included 5118 participants (mean [SE) baseline age 65.2 [7.3] years; 60.7% female). At baseline, mean (SD) meal times were 08:24 (0:45) for breakfast, 12:38 (0:31) for lunch, 17:52 (0:54) for dinner. The average time interval between waking up to breakfast was 0:33 (0:32) hours and between dinner and going to bed was 5:22 (1:05) hours. Modest associations were observed between age and later breakfast, lunch, and dinner independent of sleep time and with longer interval between waking up and breakfast and shorter interval between dinner and going to bed (all P < .05). During a mean (SD) of 19.7 (9.2) years of follow-up, 4196 deaths were recorded. Every hour later breakfast, lunch, and dinner were associated with 1.3 (SE =0.05), 1.1 (0.05), and 1.1 (0.03) higher odds of mortality, respectively. In addition, each additional hour between waking up and breakfast and between dinner and going to bed were associated with 1.1 (0.05) and 1.1 (0.03) higher odds of mortality, respectively (all P < .05).

Conclusions: \In older adults, delays in the timing of meals are associated with increased mortality. Identifying the underlying pathophysiology is imperative to design effective interventions to mitigate this risk.

Funding Sources: N/A