Lesani Azadeh, Mojani-Qomi Mansooreh Sadat
Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.
Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Sci Rep. 2025 Jul 1;15(1):21135. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-06897-8.
Meal timing patterns (MTPs) are associated with energy and macronutrient intake, but their combined impact with food intake on overall diet quality remains underexplored. This cross-sectional study examined the relationship between MTPs and diet quality in a sample of 574 Iranian women aged 20-60 years from Tehran. Dietary intake was evaluated via three 24-hour dietary recalls, and demographic and anthropometric data were also collected. K-means cluster analysis on the basis of five dietary factors: morning and evening energy proportions, pre-sleep fasting, eating windows, and eating occasions were used. Diet quality was assessed via the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015), Carbohydrate Food Quality Score (CFQS-4), and Cholesterol-Saturated Fat Index (CSI). Three MTPs clusters were identified "pre-sleep fasting", "long-frequent", and "late-short". The HEI-2015 scores were lower for the "long-frequent" (fully adjusted: β = -2.85, 95% CI: -4.85 to -0.87) and "late-short" (-2.11, -4.12 to -0.23) patterns than for the "pre-sleep fasting" cluster. Only the "late-short" pattern was consistently associated with reduced CFQS-4 scores across all the models (-0.19, -0.32 to -0.07). No associations were detected between MTPs and CSI. Morning energy intake was positively associated with the HEI-2015 score (0.21, 0.12 to 0.30), whereas evening energy intake was inversely associated with the CFQS-4 score (-0.003, -0.09 to -0.001). Additionally, "pre-sleep fasting" was related to decreased CSI (-0.003, -0.001 to -0.00003). These findings suggest that long-frequent and late-short MTPs are linked to lower diet quality. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these results and their implications for health.
进餐时间模式（MTPs）与能量及宏量营养素摄入相关，但它们与食物摄入量对总体饮食质量的综合影响仍未得到充分研究。这项横断面研究在来自德黑兰的574名年龄在20至60岁的伊朗女性样本中，考察了进餐时间模式与饮食质量之间的关系。通过三次24小时饮食回顾来评估饮食摄入量，并收集了人口统计学和人体测量数据。基于五个饮食因素进行K均值聚类分析：早晚能量比例、睡前禁食、进食窗口和进食次数。通过2015年健康饮食指数（HEI-2015）、碳水化合物食物质量评分（CFQS-4）和胆固醇-饱和脂肪指数（CSI）来评估饮食质量。识别出三种进餐时间模式聚类：“睡前禁食”、“长而频繁”和“晚而短”。“长而频繁”（完全调整后：β = -2.85，95%置信区间：-4.85至-0.87）和“晚而短”（-2.11，-4.12至-0.23）模式的HEI-2015得分低于“睡前禁食”聚类。在所有模型中，只有“晚而短”模式始终与CFQS-4得分降低相关（-0.19，-0.32至-0.07）。未检测到进餐时间模式与CSI之间存在关联。早晨能量摄入与HEI-2015得分呈正相关（0.21，0.12至0.30），而晚上能量摄入与CFQS-4得分呈负相关（-0.003，-0.09至-0.001）。此外，“睡前禁食”与CSI降低相关（-0.003，-0.001至-0.00003）。这些发现表明，长而频繁和晚而短的进餐时间模式与较低的饮食质量相关。需要进行纵向研究来证实这些结果及其对健康的影响。
