Chrononutrition: Investigating the association between eating timing and metabolic health in children and adolescents

Chrononutrition is a term used to describe timing-related eating behaviours. This includes three main aspects: when people eat during the day, how often they eat, and how consistent their eating patterns are from day to day. More and more research shows that these timing-related eating behaviours may affect health, especially body weight and how the body processes food (metabolism).

Previous studies, including our own work, suggest that children who eat later in the evening or snack regularly at night may be more likely to have a higher body weight, even if they do not eat more food overall. This means that focusing only on what or how much children eat may miss an important part of the picture.

However, most current health advice for children and adolescents focuses on food types and portion sizes, and does not consider the timing of eating. There is still much to learn about how timing-related eating behaviours affect children’s health and what influences these habits.

Using data from children from different cultural backgrounds in the UK, this study aims to better understand timing-related eating behaviours and their links to health. The findings could help improve future advice for families and support healthier growth in children.