Changes in 24-hour Activity Cycle Behaviors During a Time-Restricted Eating Intervention in College-Aged Women (DAWG-TREAT)

DAWGS in Time-Restricted Eating and Activity Trends (DAWG-TREAT)

Time-restricted Eating (TRE) is a dietary approach that limits food intake to 4 - 12-hour windows without intentionally altering diet quality. TRE has several benefits including modest reductions in body weight and fat mass, improved glucose control, and reduced inflammatory markers. While research supports the metabolic and weight related benefits of TRE, there is limited evidence of its effects on physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep - the core components of 24-hour Activity Cycle (24-HAC), which is a holistic framework that integrates the three health-related activities. TRE research has largely focused on clinical populations, leaving its feasibility and adherence in healthy younger adults understudied. Within this group, college students' misaligned circadian rhythms and unpredictable schedules may make adherence to TRE challenging, highlighting the need for research on its practicality in this group. These outcomes are also particularly important to investigate in women, considering that SB is more prevalent among college-aged women (69%) compared to men (46%). To address these issues, we will conduct a three-week intervention to study the effects of TRE on the 24-HAC outcomes. College aged women will be screened and enrolled, then assigned to either a control or TRE group. Participants in the TRE group will self-select the timing of their 8-hour eating window which they will maintain throughout the study (with compliance on at least six days per week needed to be considered adherent). The control group will receive a basic nutrition education at the start of the study and will have no restriction on eating times. 24 HAC behaviors will be measured continuously for one-week of baseline measurement and throughout the intervention by wrist-worn ActiGraph GT9X monitors. Participants will also record the timing of their first and last meal each day and receive periodic reminders to report their hunger and satiety ratings using visual analog scales.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Physical Activity; Sleep Quality; Compliance; Sleep Duration; Sedentary Behaviors
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Time Restricted Eating; Behavioral: Control

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 36
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Tejaswi Tamilmani Saraswathi, MS; Phone Number: 19515362830; Email: tt34515@uga.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Georgia
    • Athens, Georgia, United States, 30605
      • Recruiting
      • Physical Activity Measurement Lab
      • Contact: Tejaswi Tamilmani Saraswathi, MS; Phone Number: 9515362830; Email: tt34515@uga.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female undergraduate and graduate students
• Enrolled full-time at University of Georgia
• Aged 18-26 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• having one of the following chronic diseases that maybe impacted by the diet changes: type 1 and 2 diabetes mellitus, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, thyroid dysfunction, hepatic/renal impairment, inflammatory bowel disease and other gastrointestinal diseases,
• report use of nicotine, thyroid medications, antidepressants, or anti-anxiety medications, melatonin
• having clinically diagnosed sleep disorders
• alcohol intake exceeds two drinks per day
• clinically diagnosed or undiagnosed eating disorders
• division-1 student athletes
• pregnant or lactating or plan on getting pregnant within 6 months
• report major ambulatory disorders,
• recently (within the past two weeks) engaged in caloric restriction, timing-based dietary changes, weight loss regimens, or adhered to specialized diets such as ketogenic or paleo diets,
• required to take medication with food, as these factors may interfere with sleep and physical activity outcomes or pose risks to participant health during restricted eating protocols. Students whose habitual eating time windows are <10 hours will also not be eligible.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Time Restricted Eating (TRE); 8-hour (self-selcted) TRE	Behavioral: Time Restricted Eating; Participants randomized to the TRE group will self-select a consistent 8-hour daily eating window that aligns with their usual schedule. Participants will be instructed to consume all caloric intake within this 8-hour window and abstain from caloric intake outside of the window for 3 weeks. Participants will be instructed not to intentionally modify diet quality or caloric intake during the intervention period, aside from restricting meal timing. Consumption of water and non-caloric beverages (e.g., black coffee, unsweetened tea) will be permitted outside the eating window to maintain hydration.; Other Names: TRE
Other: Control; Normal eating	Behavioral: Control; The control group in this study will receive a basic nutrition education. This group will follow normal eating patterns for 3 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
24-Hour Activity Cycle	Physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior (SB) and sleep duration, the three main components of 24-Hour Activity Cycle will be measured using an ActiGraph GT9X (wrist watch style activity monitor) worn continuously on the non-dominant wrist during baseline and intervention weeks. ActiGraph accelerometers are widely used for measuring PA intensity and SB time, energy expenditure and sleep. Non-sedentary time will be used as a metric to measure time spent in PA. The Choi 90-minute algorithm will be used to identify ActiGraph non-wear times. Participants will report their sleep time and wake time in the Daily Survey. Total sleep time will be calculated as the difference in their self-reported sleep and wake times.	From enrollment to the end of study participation (4 weeks)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Sleep quality: Objective	ActiGraph sleep measures will be used to objectively estimate sleep quality. ActiGraphy has been previously used in TRE studies to track sleep quality. Sleep quality parameters from the ActiGraph include sleep latency, sleep efficiency and wake after sleep onset (WASO).	From enrollment to the end of study participation (4 weeks)
Sleep quality: Subjective	For a subjective measure of sleep quality, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) will be used. PSQI is a self-report questionnaire that assesses multiple dimensions of sleep, including both subjective and objective parameters. PSQI has a total global score ranging from 0 to 21. A score of 0 indicates the best sleep quality, while 21 indicates the worst. A total score greater than 5 is generally considered to indicate poor sleep quality. It is a well validated and reliable measure of sleep quality over a one-month interval.	At the beginnning of the study and at the end of study

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hunger and Fullness	A Hunger and Fullness visual analogue scale will be used to assess hunger and appetite. Participants will self-administer this scale three times (wake time, midday, and bedtime) on a randomly chosen day each week.	Three times on one randomly day for 4 weeks
Mood states	Mood states will be assessed using Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-Short Form (PANAS-SF), which will be administered three times (wake-time, midday, and sleep time) on a randomly selected day once a week. Scores for both Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA) range from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating higher levels of that emotional state	Once a week for 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Georgia
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Michael D Schmidt, Ph.D., University of Georgia

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 27, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 9, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 2, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Sleep quality; Time restricted eating; 24-Hour activity cycle
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Mental Disorders; Sleep Wake Disorders; Sleep Disorders, Intrinsic; Dyssomnias; Behavior; Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Feeding Behavior; Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Fasting; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Motor Activity; Sedentary Behavior; Patient Compliance; Intermittent Fasting
• Other Study ID Numbers: PROJECT00012891

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No