More Frequent Intake of Regular Meals and Less Frequent Snacking Are Weakly Associated with Lower Long-Term Gains in Body Mass Index and Fat Mass in Middle-Aged Men and Women

Sofus C Larsen; Berit L Heitmann

doi:10.1093/jn/nxy326

More Frequent Intake of Regular Meals and Less Frequent Snacking Are Weakly Associated with Lower Long-Term Gains in Body Mass Index and Fat Mass in Middle-Aged Men and Women

J Nutr. 2019 May 1;149(5):824-830. doi: 10.1093/jn/nxy326.

Authors

Sofus C Larsen¹, Berit L Heitmann^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Research Unit for Dietary Studies, The Parker Institute, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, The Capital Region, Denmark.
² The Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise & Eating Disorders, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
³ Department of Public Health, Section for General Practice, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

PMID: 31034009
DOI: 10.1093/jn/nxy326

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined the relationship between eating frequency and long-term change in body weight, and the results have been inconsistent.

Objective: We examined the associations between eating frequency and 6-y changes in body mass index (BMI; in kg/m2), fat mass, fat-free mass, body fat percentage, and waist circumference.

Methods: The study consisted of Danish men (n = 1080) and women (n = 1044) aged 35-67 y with repeated measures of eating frequency, adiposity, and covariates during 11 y. Multiple linear regression was used to assess the associations between baseline eating frequency and subsequent change in BMI, fat mass, fat-free mass, fat percentage, and waist circumference, as well as the association between initial change in eating frequency and subsequent change in the same outcomes.

Results: Total baseline eating frequency was not associated with change in outcomes. However, when separately examining regular meals and snacks, each additional daily meal was associated with a subsequent 6-y change in BMI of -0.14 (95% CI: -0.27, -0.00). Similar tendencies of inverse associations were found for change in fat mass (P = 0.04), fat-free mass (P = 0.07), and waist circumference (P = 0.05). We found no association between initial change in total eating frequency and subsequent change in outcomes. However, each additional daily regular meal after 5 y was associated with a subsequent 6-y change in BMI of -0.16 (95% CI: -0.30, -0.01). Inverse associations were also seen for fat (P = 0.04) and fat-free mass (P = 0.05). In contrast, an increase in daily frequency of snacking was associated with an increase in fat mass (P = 0.04) and fat percentage (P = 0.02).

Conclusions: Our results indicate that total frequency of eating has little or no influence on adiposity among middle-aged Danish men and women. Consumption of regular meals, but not snack consumption, showed a weak inverse association with longitudinal gains in BMI.

Keywords: eating frequency; meals; obesity; snacks; weight change.

MeSH terms

Adipose Tissue / metabolism*
Adiposity
Adult
Aged
Body Composition*
Body Fluid Compartments
Body Mass Index*
Denmark
Diet*
Feeding Behavior*
Female
Humans
Male
Meals*
Middle Aged
Obesity* / etiology
Obesity* / metabolism
Obesity* / prevention & control
Snacks
Waist Circumference
Weight Gain