A healthy diet is defined by what you eat, but recent research shows that when you eat may also play a significant role in health– including fracture risk.
In this article, we'll examine a study of nearly one million participants that uncovered associations between skipping breakfast, late dinners, and osteoporotic fracture risk. Then we'll look at another study that found links between aging, meal timings, and health conditions.
Skipping Breakfast, Late Dinner, And Fracture Risk
Researchers in Japan conducted a massive study to analyze how different lifestyle factors can impact bone health and fracture risk. They examined the association between osteoporotic fracture and two dietary habits: skipping breakfast and eating a late dinner.
The study analyzed data from 927,130 participants on behaviors including smoking, daily alcohol consumption, exercise habits, gait speed, sleep duration, skipping breakfast, and eating dinner late. These lifestyle factors were compared with the incidence of osteoporotic fracture at the hip, distal forearm, vertebrae, and humerus.1
The analysis found that participants who skipped breakfast three or more times per week were about 18% more likely to sustain a fracture than those who ate breakfast more consistently. Participants who ate dinner less than two hours before bed three or more times per week had an 8% higher fracture risk.1
These behaviors were often linked to other habits that increase fracture risk, such as insufficient sleep, physical inactivity, smoking, and alcohol use. However, even after adjusting for these other bone-damaging lifestyle choices, skipping breakfast and eating a late dinner were independently associated with fractures.
Synopsis
A study with 927,130 participants found that those who skipped breakfast more than three times a week were approximately 18% more likely to break a bone. Those who ate dinner less than two hours before going to bed more than three times a week had an 8% higher risk of fracture.
Study Finds Meal Timings Impact Health Outcomes
A study published in September 2025 in Communications Medicine analyzed data from 2,945 community-dwelling older adults who participated in the University of Manchester Longitudinal Study of Cognition in Normal Healthy Old Age.
The researchers collected up to five repeated assessments of meal timing and health behaviors between 1983 and 2017, then compared meal-timing data with participants’ health outcomes.
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They found that older age was associated with later breakfast and dinner times. Participants who ate breakfast later were more likely to develop physical and psychological illnesses, including fatigue, oral health problems, depression, and anxiety.2
Later breakfast timing was also associated with higher mortality. Participants in the late-eating group had a survival rate nearly three percent lower than those in the earlier-eating group. 2
The researchers suggested that changes in meal schedules may result from underlying health problems and aging. While they couldn't establish causality of the poor health outcomes, they postulated that disease onset can lead to shifts in meal timing rather than meal timing causing disease.2
If you find your mealtimes drifting later and later, that could signal emerging health problems. Any deterioration in your overall health also stands to negatively impact your bones and the good habits that support them.
Synopsis
Among older adults, older age correlated with later breakfast and dinner times; later eating was linked to higher odds of physical and psychological illnesses and to higher mortality.
Lifestyle Choices Affect Health And Bone Fracture Risk
These studies examine lifestyle choices that are largely ignored by the Medical Establishment.
Skipping breakfast deprives your body of the energy and nutrients your bones need to stay strong, the protein required to build muscle, and a consistent energy supply for your cells.
Eating late dinners can affect metabolism and has been linked to weight gain. Both behaviors have been associated with poor bone health and increased fracture risk.
Small adjustments to your daily habits, such as meal timing, can have large effects, negative or positive. Adopt these habits to improve your health and protect your bones.
At the Save Institute, we recommend having breakfast within two hours of waking up and finishing dinner at least three to four hours before bed.
Synopsis
Skipping breakfast and eating a late dinner have both been linked to poorer bone health, higher fracture risk, and other negative health outcomes. At the Save Institute, we recommend having breakfast within two hours of waking up and finishing dinner at least three to four hours before bed.
What This Means To You
Your daily habits and choices have a big impact on your health and your bones. Eat a healthy, 80/20 pH-balanced breakfast every morning, and eat dinner at least a few hours before your bedtime.
The Osteoporosis Reversal Program derives its power and efficacy from a holistic approach to preventing and reversing bone loss. It accounts for many lifestyle factors that can either build or degrade your bones — depending on the choices you make.
The Osteoporosis Reversal Program makes it easy to understand why your habits impact your bones, and lays out a path to a bone-healthy life that helps prevent fracture and preserve your independence.
Stronger Bones. Without Drugs. Guaranteed!
The natural and evidence-based program that helps reverse osteoporosis and osteopenia in 12, 6, even 3 months… guaranteed.
References
1 https://academic.oup.com/jes/article/9/9/bvaf127/8241072?utm_source=chatgpt.com&login=false
