Early vs. Late Time-Restricted Eating in Adolescents With Obesity (EL TREA)

August 28, 2026 updated by: Alaina P. Vidmar, MD, Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Determine the effectiveness of how limiting the time you eat within an early or late eating window and fasting for remainder of the day will impact weight loss and body mass index (BMI).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

In adults, there is growing evidence that early TRE is more effective in improving metabolic outcomes than other forms of TRE, however it is unclear whether adolescents will be able to adhere to such recommendations. Hence, in the present study we propose a 24-week, 2-arm, parallel randomized pilot trial in 100 adolescents (age 13-18 years, all gender expressions, anticipate 65% Latino) with obesity, to test the preliminary efficacy of early vs. late TRE on glycemic profiles, weight loss, and body composition. We hypothesize that, among adolescents who can adhere to the meal timing recommendations, early TRE will result in greater improvement in metabolic endpoints than late TRE. We will test the hypothesis with 3 specific aims: Aim 1: Test the effect of early vs. late TRE on glycemic profiles and β-cell function. Aim 2: Test the effect of early vs. late TRE on obesity and body composition, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Aim 3: Test the effect of early vs. late TRE on exploratory outcomes including sleep, physical activity, and dietary intake to explore how meal timing may influence occurrence, timing, and distribution of sleep and movement as well as dietary intake and caloric distribution. This study is the first study evaluating the effectiveness of early vs. late TRE in adolescents with obesity at risk for diabetes.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
94

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90027
        • Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

12 years to 21 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 12-21 years with obesity (BMI>95th percentile)
  • participant must be willing and able to adhere to the assessments, visit schedules, and eating/fasting periods
  • baseline eating window greater than 12 hours.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosis of Prader-Willi Syndrome, brain tumor, or diabetes serious intellectual disability
  • previous diagnosis or subthreshold symptoms of an eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder)
  • parent/guardian-reported physical, mental of other inability to participate in the assessments
  • previous bariatric surgery
  • current participation in other interventional weight loss studies.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Early Time Restricted Eating
early-day TRE (7:00 to 15:00 h)
Behavioral: Early Time Restricted Eating
Early Time Restricted Eating 7 AM to 3 PM
Experimental: Late Time Restricted Eating
late TRE (12:00 to 20:00 h)
Behavioral: Late Time Restricted Eating
Late Time Restricted Eating 12 PM to 8 PM

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mean change in weight in excess of the 95th percentile at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
Change in weight in excess of the 95th percentile
week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Mean change in total body fat mass as measured on DEXA scan at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
Change in total body fat mass measured on DEXA scan
week 24
Mean change in percent time in range as captured on contiguous glucose monitor at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
%TIR captured on CGM
week 24
Mean change in hemoglobin A1c at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
HgA1c measured at baseline and week 24
week 24
Mean change in ALT at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
ALT measured at baseline and week 24
week 24
Mean change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at week 24 compared to baseline
Time Frame: week 24
Measured systolic and diastolic blood pressure at baseline and week 24
week 24

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Alaina Vidmar, MD, Children's Hospital Los Angeles

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 27, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
February 8, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
February 21, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
February 22, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 31, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 28, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • CHLA-22-00395

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

Clinical characteristics data will be available in CSV format, and will not require the use of specialized tools to be accessed. To facilitate interpretation of the data, study protocol and clinical data dictionary will be shared and associated with the relevant datasets. Information about our research process, including the details of biochemical assays be maintained contemporaneously. This information will be accessible to all members of the research team and will be shared alongside our data. Data to be shared will be made available at the time of associated publication or by the close of the reward. Data will be made available, at minimum, for length of the grant + 5 years. Restrictions on subsequent access, distribution, or reuse of scientific data from this project include confidentiality protections. All data shard will be de-identified and not include any sensitive information or potentially identifying variables.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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