Circadian timing of food and body mass index

Researchers examined the relationships between body fat, body mass index and the timing of food consumption, to time of day and to the body's circadian clock. They discovered that the timing of food intake relative to melatonin onset, a marker of a person's biological night, is associated with higher Body Mass Index BMI, and not associated with the time of day, amount or composition of food intake.

The time of calories consumption, relative to personal biological timing may be more important for health than the actual time of the day. Researchers analyzed data collected from different participants to monitor daily meal intake.

Investigation to assess the timing of their melatonin onset, marking onset of sleep, and their body composition.
Researchers found that individuals with high body fat percentages consumed most of their calories shortly before going to sleep when melatonin levels were high, compared to individuals with lower percentages of body fat.

Researchers found that they were unable to detect a relationship between the clock hour of food intake, caloric amount, meal composition, exercise level, or sleep duration, and either of these body composition measures.

Researchers concluded that these results provide evidence that the consumption of food during the circadian night, independent of more traditional risk factors such as amount or content of food intake and activity level, plays an important role in body composition.
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