Habitual night eating was positively associated with progress of arterial stiffness in chinese adults

Authors: ZHANG, XINYUAN - Pennsylvania State University; WU, YUNTAO - Kailuan Hospital; NA, MUZI - Pennsylvania State University; LICHTENSTEIN, ALICE - Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center On Aging At Tufts University; XING, AIJUN - Kailuan Hospital; CHEN, SHUOHUA - Kailuan Hospital; WU, SHOULING - Kailuan Hospital; GAO, XIANG - Pennsylvania State University

Submitted to: Journal of the American Heart Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/5/2020
Publication Date: 9/21/2020
Citation: Zhang, X., Wu, Y., Na, M., Lichtenstein, A.H., Xing, A., Chen, S., Wu, S., Gao, X. 2020. Habitual night eating was positively associated with progress of arterial stiffness in Chinese adults. Journal of the American Heart Association. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.016455.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.120.016455

Interpretive Summary: The timing and distribution of food intake throughout the day may affect health status. Some evidence suggests consuming a high proportion of total daily food during the evening hours (night-eating) is associated with an elevated risk of obesity, elevated low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations and heart disease risk. To address this issue further we studied 7771 adult living in China who did not have heart disease, cancer, or diabetes at the start of the study and reported their food intake; amounts and timing. To assess their risk for heart disease we measured arterial stiffness, an indicator of blood vessel health and early risk factor for heart disease. During the 3 year follow-up period the results suggest that women, but not men, who reported a higher rate of night eating were more likely to have higher measures of arterial stiffness, hence, be at higher risk for heart disease.

Technical Abstract: BACKGROUND: Night eating has been associated with an elevated risk of obesity, dyslipidemia, and cardiovascular disease. However, there is no longitudinal study on whether habitual night eating, regardless of diet quality and energy intake, is associated with arterial stiffness, a major etiological factor in the development of cardiovascular disease. METHODS AND RESULTS: The study included 7771 adult participants without cardiovascular disease, cancer, or diabetes mellitus prior to dietary assessment by a validated food frequency questionnaire in 2014 through 2015. Participants were categorized into 3 groups based on self-reported night-eating habits: never or rarely, some days (1-5 times per week), or most days (6+ times per week). Arterial stiffness was assessed by brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity at baseline and repeatedly during follow-ups. Mean differences and 95% CIs in the yearly change rate of brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity across the 3 groups were calculated, adjusting for age, sex, socioeconomic status, total energy intake, diet quality, sleep quality, and other cardiovascular disease risk factors. At baseline, 6625 (85.2%), 610 (7.8%), and 536 (6.9%) participants reported night eating as never or rarely, some days, or most days, respectively. During a mean 3.19 years, we observed a positive association between night-eating frequency and progression of arterial stiffness (P trend=0.01). The adjusted difference in brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity change rate between the group that ate at night most days and the group that never or rarely ate at night was 14.1 (95% CI, 0.6-27.5) cm/s per year. This association was only significant in women, but not in men (P interaction=0.03). CONCLUSIONS: In an adult population free of major chronic diseases, habitual night eating was positively associated with the progression of arterial stiffness, a hallmark of arteriosclerosis and biological aging.