Observational studyClinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland)2019
Heritability of the timing of food intake.
Observational study in Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03059576 (Circadian System Heritability Assessed in Free Living Conditions in a Twin Mediterranean Population), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Circadian System Heritability Assessed in Free Living Conditions in a Twin Mediterranean Population
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Food Intake According to Clock Gene Polymorphisms: A Systematic Review.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Constant-routine protocol reveals an endogenous circadian rhythm in diet-induced thermogenesis with a peak in the biological morning.Metabolism: clinical and experimental · 2026Trial
- Later eating timing in relation to an individual internal clock is associated with lower insulin sensitivity and affected by genetic factors.EBioMedicine · 2025Trial
- Targeting Habitual Fast Eating as a Modifiable Risk Factor for Type 2 Diabetes: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.Diabetes therapy : research, treatment and education of diabetes and related disorders · 2026Article
- Meal timing trajectories in older adults and their associations with morbidity, genetic profiles, and mortality.Communications medicine · 2025Article
- The interplay between circadian rhythms and aging: molecular mechanisms and therapeutic strategies.Biogerontology · 2025Review
- Early meal timing attenuates high polygenic risk of obesity.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2025Article
- Uncovering key factors in weight loss effectiveness through machine learning.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Observational
- A perspective on intermittent fasting and cardiovascular risk in the era of obesity pharmacotherapy.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Chrononutrition and Cardiometabolic Health: An Overview of Epidemiological Evidence and Key Future Research Directions.Nutrients · 2024Review
- The association between diet quality and chrononutritional patterns in young adults.European journal of nutrition · 2024Article
- Unfavorable Mealtime, Meal Skipping, and Shiftwork Are Associated with Circadian Syndrome in Adults Participating in NHANES 2005-2016.Nutrients · 2024Article
- Impact of polygenic score for BMI on weight loss effectiveness and genome-wide association analysis.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Observational
- Meal timing and its role in obesity and associated diseases.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Review
- Investigating the outcomes of virus coinfection within and across host species.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Meal Timing and Sleeping Energy Metabolism.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Article
- Anti-COVID-19 measures threaten our healthy body weight: Changes in sleep and external synchronizers of circadian clocks during confinement.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2022Article
- Response to comment: Anti-COVID-19 measures threaten our healthy body weight: Changes in sleep and external synchronizers of circadian clocks during confinement.Clinical nutrition (Edinburgh, Scotland) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
BACKGROUND &
aimsWhile environmental factors are presumed to be primary drivers of food timing, preliminary evidence suggests that genetics may be an additional determinant. The aim was to explore the relative contribution of genetics and environmental factors to variation in the timing of food intake in a Spanish twin population. Because chronotype, bedtime and wake time are related to food timing, covariance with food timing was further assessed.
methodsIn this observational study, 53 pairs of adult (mean (SD) = 52 (6.03) years) female twins (28 monozygotic; 25 dizygotic) were recruited from the Murcia Twin Register. Zygosity was determined by DNA-testing. Timing of the three main meals of the day was assessed via 7-day dietary records, and the midpoint of food intake was computed by calculating the midpoint between breakfast and dinner times. Chronotype, bedtime and wake time were self-reported. Heritability of food timing and related traits were estimated by comparing monozygotic and dizygotic twin correlations and fitting genetic structural equation models to measured variables.
resultsWe observed genetic influences for food timing, with highest heritability for the midpoint of food intake (64%) in an overweight/obese population (BMI = 26.01 ± 3.77). Genetic factors contributed to a higher degree to the timing of breakfast (56%) than the timing of lunch (38%) or dinner (n.s.). Similarly, heritability estimates were larger in related behavioral traits earlier on in the day (i.e. wake time, (55%)), than those later on in the day (i.e. bedtime, (38%)). Bivariate analyses revealed a significant genetic overlap between food timing and bedtime and chronotype (rG between 0.78 and 0.91).
conclusionsGenetic influences appear to account for a significant proportion of the variability in food timing, particularly breakfast. Thus, interventions related to food timing may be more effective when targeting afternoon/evening traits, such as lunch or dinner times. Furthermore, our data suggest shared genetic architecture underlying food timing and phenotypically related traits. CLINICAL TRIAL: NCT03059576. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03059576.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.