Eating behaviours: tracking through the lifecourse and impact on chronic disease.

Many believe that our modern lifestyle, and eating small amounts more often, may be contributing to recent increases in obesity, along with skipping breakfast, and eating later in the evening and at night. We shall use the dietary records of individuals studied for long periods of time, and whose weight, blood pressure and other risk factors for disease have been measured to assess whether how and when food is eaten, and whether or not changing the pattern of eating relates to obesity and other health measures, so that appropriate healthy eating messages are given to the public.

Nutrients, foods and dietary patterns are regularly investigated in relation to disease, but much less is known about eating behaviours like meal frequency, meal skipping, night eating, regularity of dietary intake, and distribution of energy, nutrients and foods through the day. The proposed study will investigate eating behaviours in two longitudinal cohorts: and the MRC National Survey of Health and Development (NSHD) and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), both with dietary data at several timepoints. Diet diaries for several days enable proposed behaviours to be assessed. Tracking of behaviours will be determined using conditional agreement analysis. Eating behaviours and their maintenance will be studied in relation to diet quality, and to body mass index and cardiovascular and diabetes risk factors, thus informing healthy eating advice.