Breakfast skipping and timing of lunch and dinner: Relationship with BMI and obesity
In this work by Longo-Silva et al. (2022), the authors sought to ascertain if the acts of missing breakfast, eating lunch or supper at a later time were cross-sectionally linked to higher BMIs and obesity, in addition to pinpointing circadian-related factors and obesogenic behaviors linked to late-night eating. A virtual environment was used for data gathering in this exploratory population-based study, which included 776 participants. The demographic median for the lunch and dinner timing was utilized to stratify participants into early (lunch prior to 12:34/dinner prior to 20:55) and late (lunch after 12:34/dinner after 20:55) eaters. Participants were divided into breakfast-eaters (first meal before 10:00) and skippers (first meal after 10:00). Analysis of the data revealed that BMI increased by 0.74 kg/m2 for every extra hour spent at lunch. Compared to those who ate breakfast and those who ate lunch early, those who skipped breakfast and those who ate lunch later had increased chances of becoming obese. Age, gender, region, amount of physical activity, and food quality had no bearing on these correlations. No statistically significant changes were discovered in comparing early and late supper eaters. The authors conclude, according to their findings, that eating a late lunch and skipping breakfast are linked to higher BMIs and an increased risk of obesity. Understanding the obesogenic traits and behaviors associated with missing breakfast and eating later in the day may be beneficial for developing future dietary guidelines for treating and preventing obesity. [NPID: Chrono-nutrition, food timing, late eating, obesity, food intake timing]
Year: 2022
