When it comes to healthy aging, what we eat is important, but when we eat may matter too.
A new study from Mass General Brigham, published in Communications Medicine, found that older adults who regularly ate meals later in the day, especially breakfast, were more likely to face health problems and had a higher risk of dying during follow-up.
Researchers followed nearly 3,000 adults in the UK, ages 42 to 94, for more than 20 years. Over time, people tended to push breakfast and dinner later and narrowed the window in which they ate meals. Those who delayed breakfast were more likely to report depression, fatigue, poor sleep and difficulty preparing meals. Later breakfast timing was also linked with higher mortality risk.
“Our research suggests that changes in when older adults eat, especially the timing of breakfast, could serve as an easy-to-monitor marker of their overall health status,” said lead author Hassan Dashti, PhD, RD, a nutrition scientist and circadian biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Encouraging older adults in having consistent meal schedules could become part of broader strategies to promoting healthy aging and longevity.”
The findings also suggest that people genetically inclined to be “night owls” tend to eat later, which may increase health risks as they age. The researchers noted that popular trends like intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating could have very different effects in older adults compared with younger ones.
While the study cannot prove cause and effect, it highlights meal timing as a potential early warning sign. Paying attention to when meals are eaten, not just what is on the plate, may offer clues for maintaining health and independence in later life.
This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health.