CO189. NIGHT FASTING DURATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH VALUES OF BODY WEIGHT AND WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE IN OVERWEIGHT CHILEAN ADULTS

Introduction: Body weight alterations including overweight/obesity have become a major public health worrying worldwide. With respect to Chile, it is one of the countries with the highest rates of Latin America region. Research for the prevention and treatment of these diseases has focused in several dietary aspects, including meal frequency and fasting options. Objective: The aim of the present report was to evaluate the potential association of specific dietary habits such as the duration of night fasting with indicators of overweight/obesity in a sample of Chilean adults. METHOD: Data were obtained from National Health Survey, carried out by the Chilean Ministry of Health between years 2009-2010, which was an observational and transversal study. 5416 adult subjects were recruited, being the sample representative of both rural and urban areas and male and female gender. Waist circumference and body weight were determined following validated protocols. The sample was categorized according to the duration of night fasting into two groups: less than 8 hours or 8 hours or more. Results are presented as mean±SE. Results: Data for this report include 4857 subjects (1955 men, 2902 women; mean age 46±19 years old). Analyses comparing the two groups of night fasting duration revealed that subjects fasting 8 hours or more had significantly lower body weight values than those fasting less than 8 hours (78.07±1.11 kg vs. 122.32±15.28 kg; p< 0.001). The same difference was observed for waist circumference (97.60±1.08 cm in the 8-hours-or-more group vs. 141.35±15.29 cm. in the less-than-8-hours-group; p<0.001). Conclusions: A longer night fasting is associated with lower values of body weight and waist circumference in Chilean adults. This aspect should be considered in order to design more effective dietary plans for preventing and treating body weight alterations.