Table 1 Means (SEM) and mixed model main effects of month for eating metrics.

From: Stability of the timing of food intake at daily and monthly timescales in young adults

Metric

Month 1

Month 2

Month 3

F-value

p-value

Circadian

DLMO (hh:min)

23:20 (00:25)

23:40 (00:33)

23:24 (00:44)

0.25

0.78

Caloric timing

Breakfast (hh:min)

10:07 (00:18)

11:09 (00:30)

10:37 (00:33)

3.37

0.05

Lunch (hh:min)

14:27 (00:30)

14:34 (00:27)

14:01 (00:22)

0.55

0.58

Dinner (hh:min)

19:35 (00:20)

19:47 (00:27)

19:20 (00:17)

0.60

0.56

Snack (hh:min)

15:53 (00:56)

18:29 (00:48)

19:54 (01:16)

4.13

0.04

First caloric event (hh:min)

10:52 (00:35)

12:22 (00:35)

11:38 (00:41)

5.50

0.01

Caloric midpoint (hh:min)

15:17 (00:32)

16:24 (00:40)

16:07 (00:50)

1.98

0.16

Last caloric event (hh:min)

19:18 (00:32)

20:11 (00:48)

19:58 (00:36)

1.04

0.37

Circadian caloric timing

Calories within 4 h of DLMO to sleep onset (%)

21.7 (4.3)

27.1 (4.6)

27.3 (5.2)

0.04

0.96

Phase of peak caloric timing (°)

229.9 (8.8)

238.6 (10.1)

242.6 (7.3)

1.09

0.35

Caloric midpoint to DLMO difference (h)

− 8.1 (0.6)

− 7.2 (0.6)

− 7.2 (0.5)

0.98

0.39

Day-to-day variability

CPD first caloric event (h)

2.7 (0.3)

3.3 (0.5)

3.1 (0.6)

1.08

0.36

CPD caloric midpoint (h)

3.6 (0.4)

3.4 (0.5)

4.1 (0.5)

0.71

0.50

CPD last caloric event (h)

4.8 (0.4)

5.3 (0.5)

4.7 (0.5)

0.55

0.59

Std first caloric event (h)

2.0 (0.2)

2.4 (0.4)

2.1 (0.4)

0.73

0.49

Std caloric midpoint (h)

3.5 (0.3)

3.7 (0.3)

3.3 (0.3)

0.42

0.66

Std last caloric event (h)

2.7 (0.3)

2.4 (0.4)

2.7 (0.3)

0.41

0.67

Caloric consumption

Daily average calories (kcal)

1664.8 (121.5)

1485.4 (131.5)

1827.8 (180.1)

3.78

0.04

Daily average meals (number)

2.9 (0.2)

2.8 (0.4)

3.2 (0.4)

0.99

0.37

Daily average fats (% total energy)

36.0 (1.6)

35.5 (2.1)

33.7 (2.4)

1.02

0.38

Daily average carbohydrates (% total energy)

46.8 (2.3)

47.1 (2.9)

49.1 (2.9)

1.13

0.34

Daily average proteins (% total energy)

17.1 (1.1)

17.3 (1.2)

17.2 (1.6)

0.05

0.95

  1. Values are means (SEM). P-values represent mixed model comparisons across months. Bolded values represent significant (p < 0.05) differences. DLMO dim-light melatonin onset, CPD composite phase deviation, std standard deviation.
  2. Note that average first caloric event may be later than breakfast due to how caloric events were labelled by the individual (e.g., if the individual “skipped” breakfast but still had a snack). Likewise, the last caloric event may be earlier than dinner if dinner was not consumed (e.g., snack eaten in the afternoon could be last caloric event).
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