As people grow older, their eating habits naturally change.
While much attention has been given to what and how much older adults eat, new research suggests that when meals are eaten may also play an important role in health and longevity.
A team from Mass General Brigham, along with international collaborators, studied nearly 3,000 adults in the UK between the ages of 42 and 94.
Participants were followed for more than 20 years, with detailed information collected on diet, blood markers, and health outcomes.
The results, published in Communications Medicine, show that meal timing gradually shifts later in life and that these changes may be linked with both health problems and increased risk of death.
The researchers found that as people age, they tend to eat breakfast and dinner later in the day, while also shrinking the total time window during which they eat.
Among these changes, breakfast timing stood out as particularly important.
People who consistently ate breakfast later were more likely to experience health issues such as depression, fatigue, poor oral health, and difficulty preparing meals. Later eating was also linked to poorer sleep patterns.
Perhaps most concerning, eating breakfast later in the day was tied to a higher risk of dying during the study’s follow-up period. Those with a genetic tendency to be “night owls”—preferring later sleep and wake times—were also more likely to eat meals later in the day, further connecting circadian rhythm with dietary patterns.
“Our research suggests that changes in when older adults eat, especially breakfast, could act as a simple marker of overall health,” said lead author Hassan Dashti, Ph.D., RD, a nutrition scientist and circadian biologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Shifts in mealtime routines might be an early warning sign of underlying health problems.”
Dashti and his colleagues believe that encouraging older adults to keep regular meal schedules, particularly eating breakfast earlier in the day, could support healthier aging and longevity. These findings also raise questions about popular eating patterns such as intermittent fasting and time-restricted eating. While these approaches may benefit younger adults, they may have very different effects on older populations, where delayed meals could potentially worsen health.
The study provides new meaning to the old saying that “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” For older adults, it may not just be about what is eaten at breakfast—but also when it is eaten—that makes a lasting difference for health and lifespan.
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