Late-phase eating pattern, particularly delayed breakfast and dinner timing, was associated with increased likelihood of prevalent CVD among Chinese older adults.
Breakfast timing later than 7:00 was associated with significantly higher odds of prevalent CVD compared to breakfast at or before 6:00.
Dinner timing later than 18:00 was associated with substantially higher odds of prevalent CVD compared to dinner at or before 17:00.
Three distinct temporal eating patterns were identified using latent profile analysis: typical, early-phase, and late-phase eating patterns.
The late-phase eating pattern was associated with significantly higher odds of prevalent CVD compared to the typical eating pattern.
The early-phase eating pattern was associated with lower odds of prevalent CVD, but this association did not reach statistical significance.
The overall prevalence of CVD in this community-dwelling older adult sample was 15.0%.
Four temporal eating parameters were calculated to characterize meal timing relative to sleep-wake schedules.
This research suggests that when older adults eat their meals — not just what they eat — may be linked to cardiovascular disease risk. In a study of over 1,300 Chinese adults aged 60 and older, those who ate breakfast after 7:00 AM were 75% more likely to have cardiovascular disease compared to those who ate before 6:00 AM, and those who ate dinner after 6:00 PM were more than twice as likely to have cardiovascular disease compared to those who ate dinner before 5:00 PM. These associations held even after accounting for other factors, suggesting meal timing itself may be relevant to heart health. The researchers also identified three distinct eating timing 'patterns' using a statistical technique: a typical pattern (most common, about 58% of participants), an early-phase pattern (about 11%), and a late-phase pattern (about 31%). People who followed the late-phase eating pattern — characterized by later meal times overall — had 56% higher odds of having cardiovascular disease compared to those with the typical pattern. Those with the early-phase pattern appeared to have lower odds of cardiovascular disease, though that result was not statistically conclusive, possibly due to the small number of people in that group. This research suggests that the timing of meals relative to sleep and wake schedules could be a modifiable behavior relevant to heart health in older populations. Because this was a cross-sectional study — meaning it captured a snapshot in time rather than following people over years — it cannot prove that late eating causes cardiovascular disease, only that the two are associated. Nevertheless, the findings point to meal timing as a potentially important and underexplored factor in understanding cardiovascular health in aging populations.
Wang L, Li J, Fang J, Chen S, Peng J, Ye H, et al.. (2026). Associations of Meal Timing and Temporal Eating Patterns with Cardiovascular Disease Among Chinese Older Adults.. Nutrients. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu18172778