Date of Award

Winter 2020

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Human Ecology

First Advisor

Vicky Green

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-restricted eighthour feeding on body weight, self-reported energy, mood, and hunger scores, and selfreported sleep patterns of adult men and women on social media. Generally healthy adults ages 18 to 65 were invited on social media to participate in a five-week study which involved a one week of following their normal dietary patterns succeeded by four weeks of practicing time-restricted feeding of eight hours per day, also known as 16 hours of fasting. Daily surveys were created in Survey Monkey and distributed through the messaging platform, Remind, that gathered data concerning self-reported energy, mood, and hunger scores, sleep patterns, and times participants began and ended fasting for the previous day. Initial, midpoint, and final body weights were also self-reported and sent to the researcher.

One hundred twenty-nine subjects participated in the study but only 86 met the requirements of submitting all three body weights and completing a minimum of five out of seven surveys each week. The majority of participants were female (81.39%), ages 18- 25 (36.05%), and worked in the health science/health care field (23.26%). There was a significant decrease in body weight and BMI from baseline to midpoint (2.03±5.11; .318±.742) and from baseline to final (3.49±7.08; .567±.742). Mood scores also decreased significantly, showing an increase in irritability/agitation throughout the study (.876±1.34). Hours of sleep increased significantly from baseline to after two weeks of intermittent fasting (.0781 ± .342) but not from baseline to after four weeks of intermittent fasting. There were no significant changes in self-reported hunger or energy scores.

This study found supportive evidence that following time-restricted feeding in the short term may be effective for weight loss. Mood, specifically irritability and agitation, may also be negatively affected by time-restricted feeding. People may experience increased sleep duration but more research is needed to make conclusions at this time, particularly examining its effect long term.

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