Later eating rhythm measured in children at 7 years of age in the ALSPAC cohort

Abstract

Later eating rhythm (LER) refers to later timing, greater energy intake (EI), and higher frequency of eating occasions (meal/snack) in the evening. The significance of LER in child health is becoming increasingly recognised. However, the lack of consensus regarding the definition of LER makes it challenging to fully comprehend its role. This data note describes LER variables derived in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). ALSPAC is an ongoing birth cohort which enrolled 14,541 pregnant women living in Avon, UK, with an expected date of delivery between April 1991 and December 1992. When children were aged 7 years, parents completed a structured 3-day food diary, recording all foods/drinks consumed over 3 days (preferably 1 weekend day and 2 weekdays). Data was available for 7,285 children (50.1% response rate). A subsample of 4,869 children had exact time of eating occasions added to the existing database, which only included broad indications of eating timing based on 2-7 hour long meal slots. 13 LER variables were derived for the entire week and weekdays/weekend days separately. These comprise: 1) eating around individual bedtime (yes/no); 2) eating around average bedtime (yes/no); 3) time of evening main meal (hrs:mins); 4) time of last eating occasion (hrs:mins); 5) EI in the evening (percentage of total daily energy intake, %TDEI); 6) EI within 2hrs before bedtime (%TDEI); 7) EI for evening main meal (%TDEI); 8) EI for evening snacks (%TDEI); 9) eating over 30% of total daily energy intake after 18:00 (yes/no); 10) eating over 25% of total daily energy intake within 2hrs before bedtime (yes/no); 11) eating frequency after 17:00 (number of eating occasions); 12) regularity of dinner (number of days having dinner); 13) frequency of evening snacks (number of days having evening snacks). We describe the derivation, prevalence and inter-corelations between LER variables.