Time Restricted Eating, Eating Behaviors, and Cardiometabolic Risk in Emerging Adult Women

NCT06145009 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 2089190-1
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 51
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to assess how time restricted eating interventions impact eating behaviors, diet quality, and body composition in women ages 20-29 years. Participants will be asked to limit all food and drinks (except water and some non-caloric beverages) to a 10-hour period during the day for four weeks. Participants 1-36 will follow their usual eating and activity patterns for one week before starting, and follow whatever eating pattern they want for 4 weeks after finishing. Participants 37-51 will follow their usual eating and activity patterns for one week before starting, and will not complete a follow up period.

Conditions

Time Restricted Eating; Eating Behavior; Diet, Healthy; Nutrition, Healthy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Emotional Eating

  Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire: Emotional Eating Subscale. This subscale is scored from 1-5, with higher scores indicating higher emotional eating.

  Participants 1-36: 3 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention, end of 4-week follow up Participants 37-51: 2 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention

• External Eating

  Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire: External Eating Subscale. This subscale is scored from 1-5, with higher scores indicating higher external eating.

  Participants 1-36: 3 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention, end of 4-week follow up Participants 37-51: 2 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention

• Eating in the Absence of Hunger

  Assessed through surveys sent 5x/day asking about if food was eaten and why.

  Participants 1-36: Baseline week, weeks 1 and 4 of intervention, weeks 1 and 4 of follow up Participants 37-51: Baseline week, weeks 1 and 4 of intervention

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Diet Quality

  Participants 1-36: 3 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention, end of 4-week follow up Participants 37-51: 2 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention

• Body composition (total percent body fat)

  Baseline and end of 4-week intervention (participants 1-36 only)

• Body composition (visceral fat)

  Baseline and end of 4-week intervention (participants 1-36 only)

• Body weight

  Participants 1-36: 3 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention, end of 4-week follow up Participants 37-51: 2 time points: baseline, end of 4-week intervention

• Continuous Glucose Monitoring

  First 10 days of study, last 7 days of intervention period (added for participants 37-51, optional for participants 29-36)

Other Outcomes (1)

• Participant experience

  End of 9-week study (following 1-week baseline, 4-week intervention, and 4-week follow up, participants 1-36 only)

Study Arms (1)

Time Restricted Eating

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will limit their eating (all food and caloric beverages) to an eating window of 10 hours per day for 4 weeks. The eating window must end by 8pm. Water and non-caloric beverages are allowed outside of the eating window. No other changes are required to the types or total amount of food eaten.

Behavioral: Time restricted eating

Interventions

Time restricted eating BEHAVIORAL

Limit food intake to 10 hours per day as described in the experimental arm section.

Also known as: Time restricted feeding, Intermittent fasting, Meal timing

Time Restricted Eating

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 20 Years - 29 Years
• Gender Eligibility Details: People who identify as a woman are eligible.
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Able to speak and read English
• Own a smartphone
• BMI ≥ 20 kg/m2
• Usual eating window ≥ 12 hours with the last eating occasion after 8pm on the majority of days
• Have at least a moderate baseline level of dietary restraint

You may not qualify if:

• Shift workers
• Being pregnant, nursing, or planning to become pregnant in the next 6 months
• Having a past or current eating disorder diagnosis
• Having a chronic medical condition (including diabetes, heart, kidney, or thyroid disease) or a condition that requires therapeutic diet or specified meal timing

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Delaware: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Delaware

Newark, Delaware, 19711, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Vizthum D, Earthman CP, Patterson F, Melough MM, Allison KC, Pacanowski CR. Four-week time restricted eating intervention is associated with improvements in cardiometabolic risk factors and dysregulated eating among emerging adult women: a single-armed trial. Eat Weight Disord. 2026 May 8. doi: 10.1007/s40519-026-01814-y. Online ahead of print.

  PMID: 42104042 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Intermittent Fasting; Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Fasting; Behavior; Behavior, Animal

Study Officials

• Carly Pacanowski, PhD

  University of Delaware

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 17, 2023
• First Posted: November 22, 2023
• Study Start: October 30, 2023
• Primary Completion: October 10, 2025
• Study Completion: October 10, 2025
• Last Updated: June 30, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-06

Locations

US (1)