Time-Restricted Eating vs. Traditional Calorie Counting for Childhood Obesity

This study is testing whether a simpler approach to eating — called time-restricted eating — works better for helping children and teens with obesity lose weight. Instead of counting calories every day, children in the time-restricted eating group would eat only during a set 12-hour window each day (finishing by 7 p.m.), then fast for the remaining 12 hours. The study will compare this approach to traditional calorie-counting diets over 12 weeks and then again over a full year to see which one helps more and which one kids can stick with longer.

Childhood obesity affects about 1 in 5 children and teenagers, but the standard treatment — carefully counting and limiting calories — is hard for families to follow over time, and many children regain weight. Recent research suggests that time-restricted eating may help adults lose weight more easily, but doctors don't yet have solid evidence that it works for children.