Chrononutrition behaviors and body mass index among university students in the UAE: A cross-sectional study

Emerging evidence suggests that aligning meal timing with the body’s circadian rhythms plays a key role in obesity prevention. This study examined the association between chrononutrition-related behaviors, such as preferred and actual eating and sleep timing, duration, latency, and misalignment, and body mass index (BMI) among university students. In this cross-sectional study, sociodemographic data, height, and weight were collected from 302 participants, and chrononutrition indices were assessed using the Chrononutrition Profile Questionnaire (CP-Q). Approximately one-third (32.4%) of participants were having overweight or obesity. Skipping breakfast, long evening latency (time between last meal and bedtime), and discrepancies between preferred and actual sleep durations were significant, albeit weak, predictors of being overweight (p < 0.05). Additionally, misalignments in eating windows and in morning latency (the time between waking and the first meal) predicted obesity and underweight, respectively. Specifically, misalignment in eating windows was associated with obesity, whereas misalignment in morning latency was associated with underweight status. These findings underscore the importance of regularity and timing in both dietary and sleep behaviors and suggest that interventions targeting chrononutrition may support healthy BMI management among university students. Future strategies should consider circadian-aligned meals and sleep patterns to optimize metabolic health in young adults.