Evening eating and subsequent long‐term weight change in a national cohort

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of proportion of daily energy consumed in the evening with weight change over 10 y of follow‐up. DESIGN: The data used were from the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I, 1971–75) Epidemiologic Follow‐up Study (NHEFS, 1982–84). The analytic cohort included 2580 men and 4567 women aged 25–74 y at baseline (NHANES I, 1971–75). The proportion of energy consumed in the evening (after 5 pm) was estimated from a 24 h dietary recall obtained at baseline. Weight change was defined as the difference between the follow‐up and baseline weights. RESULTS: Mean±s.e. of percent energy from evening food intake was 46±0.29 in the analytic cohort. After adjustment for multiple covariates, percent energy from evening food intake and weight change were unrelated in both men and women. CONCLUSION: Extent of evening eating was not a significant predictor of 10 y weight change in the NHEFS cohort.