Overview

• Researchers analyzed 2,945 UK adults aged 42–94 over more than two decades, using repeated health surveys and blood samples.
• As participants aged, breakfast and dinner shifted later while the daily eating window narrowed.
• Each hour of delay in breakfast timing was linked to about a 10% higher adjusted risk of death during follow-up.
• Later breakfast consistently coincided with depression, fatigue and oral-health problems, as well as reported sleep difficulties and challenges preparing meals.
• Individuals with genetic markers for an evening chronotype tended to eat later, and the authors emphasize these are associations with limitations such as self-reported timing and limited data on snacks and physical activity.