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Late-Night Overeating and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Adults Aged ≥ 50: A Cohort Study

  • Original Research
  • Published:
The journal of nutrition, health & aging
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Abstract

Background

Late-night overeating (LNOE) is closely associated with many health risk factors, but whether LNOE can increase the risk of death remains unknown. Thus, the prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the relationship between LNOE and mortality using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Methods

11,893 participants aged 50 years and older were included in the study. Dietary information was obtained through 24-h dietary recall interviews. Cox regression, subgroup, sensitivity, and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between LNOE and mortality.

Results

During a median follow-up of 8.3 years, 2,498 deaths occurred. After adjusting for major confounders, compared to the non-late-night eating (NLNE) group, the LNOE group was associated with higher risks of all-cause (HR = 1.47, 95% CI = 1.06–2.04) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality (HR = 2.02, 95% CI = 1.13–3.60). No significant association was found between late-night eating (LNE) and mortality. Subgroup analyses showed that the LNOE group had a greater risk of all-cause and CVD mortality in participants older than 70 years, with alcohol consumption and hypertension and demonstrated an increased risk of all-cause mortality in males and higher CVD mortality in females.

Conclusion

The habit of LNOE was an independent risk factor for all-cause and CVD mortality in US adults aged 50 years and older, which was also influenced by age, sex, alcohol consumption, and hypertension.

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Abbreviations

LNOE:

late-night overeating

dTEI:

daily total energy intake

CVD:

cardiovascular disease

NHANES:

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

NCHS:

National Center for Health Statistics

ICD-10:

10th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases

LNEI:

late-night energy intake

NLNE:

non-late-night eating

LNE:

late-night eating

HEI-2105:

Healthy Eating Index 2015

BMI:

body mass index

PA:

physical activity

VIF:

variance inflation factor

CI:

confidence interval

HR:

hazard ratio

PSM:

propensity score matching

IQR:

interquartile range

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Acknowledgements: We thank Yuren 930 for allowing the authors to collaborate on this study.

Funding

Funding statement: Not applicable.

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Authors

Contributions

Author contribution: All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Zhen-kang Qiu: Conceptualization, Writing-Review, Editing and Supervision; Jia Wang and Yu-jing Li: Methodology, and Writing of Draft; Xiao-xuan Li, Yu-xin Sun, and Shuai Xiang: Study Design, and Data Curation; Meng-qi Zhang and Xiang-jun Li: Statistical analysis, Supervision, and Validation. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content and approved the final version of the manuscript. Zhen-kang Qiu is the guarantor of this work and, as such, had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

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Correspondence to Zhen-kang Qiu.

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Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interests of any of the authors.

Ethics approval: The survey protocol was approved by NCHS Ethics Review Board (https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/irba98.htm), and all participants have written informed consent.

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Wang, J., Li, Yj., Li, XX. et al. Late-Night Overeating and All-Cause and Cardiovascular Disease Mortality in Adults Aged ≥ 50: A Cohort Study. J Nutr Health Aging 27, 701–708 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-1966-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12603-023-1966-1

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