Results:

Participants who did not report eating breakfast were younger than those who did, and were more likely to be smokers, to work full-time, to be unmarried, to be less physically active, and to drink more alcohol. Men who reported that they ate late at night were more likely to smoke, to sleep <7 hours a night, or to have baseline hypertension compared with men who did not eat late at night. The late-night eating abstainers were more likely to be married and to work full-time, and ate on average one time less per day than the late-night eaters. The mean diet quality of the participants was high among participants, regardless of their breakfast or late-night eating status. During 16 years of follow-up, 1,527 incident CHD cases were diagnosed. Men who skipped breakfast had a 27% higher risk of CHD compared with men who did not (relative risk, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.53). Compared with men who did not eat late at night, those who ate late at night had a 55% higher CHD risk (relative risk, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.29). These associations were mediated by body mass index, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. No association was observed between eating frequency (times per day) and risk of CHD.