Background: Some studies in adults indicate a positive correlation between eating later in the day and overall energy intake as well as body weight status. Thus, the time of food intake may be a risk factor in childhood obesity. This study was designed to describe the proportion of energy consumed in the time from 4 pm to midnight measured in two-hour increments and to determine a potential association between the time of proportion of energy consumed and body weight status.

Introduction: Evidence has shown an increase in paediatric hypertension globally and this could give rise to increase prevalence of adult hypertension. The purpose of this paper was to determine the prevalence of hypertension among adolescents in Malaysia as well as the association between hypertension and lifestyle factors selected based on published literature. Methods: Adolescents aged 13-17 years old were selected randomly from two secondary schools to have their blood pressure measured. Their lifestyle information was obtained through completed bilingual questionnaires based on validated instruments, as well as anthropometry measurements. The relationship between hypertension and lifestyle factors was determined through statistical analysis. Results: A total of 273 students were included in the study with 120 (44%) males and 153 (56%) females. The prevalence of hypertension was 24.5% among the respondents with the highest being recorded among Malays (28.7%). Generally, hypertension was associated with an increased Body Mass Index (BMI) (AOR=4.053, 95%CI=1.677-9.795, p=0.002) and waist circumference (WC) (AOR=2.918, 95%CI=1.171-7.269, p=0.021) in all respondents. Similar associations were noted in females (BMI: AOR=7.707, 95%CI=2.043-29.072, p=0.003; WC: AOR=3.690, 95%CI=1.011-13.464, p=0.048) but not in males. Conclusion: Hypertension recorded high prevalence among Malaysian adolescents in our study. The strong association between elevated body weight, BMI and WC with hypertension may require further study to evaluate the need for screening

This study focused on the association between time of day when energy is consumed and body weight status in various subgroups of the pediatric population. A nationally representative sample of 2‐18 year olds (N=11,072; NHANES 1999‐2004) was examined to compare total and proportion of total energy intakes in one‐hour time increments and their association to children's body weight status. General estimation equation models were employed to quantify the effect of time trends on energy intake in the total sample by sex, body weight status, ethnic and age group. Complex sample survey Student t‐tests and chi‐square tests were used to obtain statistical significance at a p‐value of <0.05.The eating pattern of healthy weight, overweight and obese children were the similar in the morning but differed in the evening. Healthy weight children consumed higher proportions of energy in the morning but had lower energy intake the rest of the day. Obese children had less energy in the morning and larger proportions of total energy than overweight and healthy weight children between 7pm to midnight. Study results also showed a time‐trend effect in overweight school‐age children indicating higher energy intake in the evening. Further research is needed to examine in detail the long‐term effect of higher proportions of total energy consumed later in the day on childhood obesity in the American children.