Increased Eating Frequency Is Associated with Lower Obesity Risk, But Higher Energy Intake in Adults: A Meta-Analysis

Yue-Qiao Wang, Yun-Quan Zhang, Fei Zhang, Yi-Wen Zhang, Rui Li and Guo-Xun Chen
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Yue-Qiao Wang: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 185 East Lake Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Yun-Quan Zhang: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 185 East Lake Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Fei Zhang: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 185 East Lake Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Yi-Wen Zhang: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 185 East Lake Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Rui Li: Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, 185 East Lake Road, Wuhan 430071, China
Guo-Xun Chen: Department of Nutrition, University of Tennessee at Knoxville, 1215 West Cumberland Avenue, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Body weight is regulated by energy intake which occurs several times a day in humans. In this meta-analysis, we evaluated whether eating frequency (EF) is associated with obesity risk and energy intake in adults without any dietary restriction. Experimental and observational studies published before July 2015 were selected through English-language literature searches in several databases. These studies reported the association between EF and obesity risk (odd ratios, ORs) in adults who were not in dietary restriction. R software was used to perform statistical analyses. Ten cross-sectional studies, consisting of 65,742 participants, were included in this analysis. ORs were considered as effect size for the analysis about the effect of EF on obesity risk. Results showed that the increase of EF was associated with 0.83 time lower odds of obesity ( i.e. , OR = 0.83, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 0.70–0.99, p = 0.040). Analysis about the effect of EF on differences in participants’ energy intake revealed that increased EF was associated with higher energy intake (? = 125.36, 95% CI 21.76–228.97, p = 0.017). We conclude that increased EF may lead to lower obesity risk but higher energy intake. Clinical trials are warranted to confirm these results and to assess the clinical practice applicability.

Keywords: eating frequency; obesity risk; energy intake; meta-analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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