Temporal Dietary Patterns Are Associated with Obesity in US Adults

The integration of time with dietary patterns throughout a day, or temporal dietary patterns (TDPs), have been linked with dietary quality but relations to health are unknown. The association between TDPs and selected health status indicators and obesity, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and metabolic syndrome (MetS) was determined. The first-day 24-h dietary recall from 1627 nonpregnant US adult participants aged 20–65 y from the NHANES 2003–2006 was used to determine timing, amount of energy intake, and sequence of eating occasions (EOs). Modified dynamic time warping (MDTW) and kernel k-means algorithm clustered participants into 4 groups representing distinct TDPs. Multivariate regression models determined associations between TDPs and health status, controlling for potential confounders, and adjusting for the survey design and multiple comparisons (P