Relationship between meal frequency and the body mass index in adolescents
Obesity has
become one of the major lifestyle challenges facing human beings today. Obesity
in human beings is associated with various problems including lifestyle
diseases such as blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and poor quality of
life. Childhood and adolescent obesity has been on increase at higher rates
than in adults and this has raised serious public health concerns. Human
nutrition has been shown to be one of the major causes of obesity in most parts
of the world. Identifying ways of preventing obesity has becomes a key public
health goal especially in developed countries where the problem of obesity is
most severe. Therefore, research has focused on how human nutrition can be
altered in order to lower obesity. In particular, the metabolism of the human
body and the frequency of meals has attracted significant attraction in the
recent past. Understanding the relationship if any between meal patterns and
weight changes can be useful in preventing obesity (Franko et al., 2008).
In one study,
Frank et al. (2008) investigated whether meal frequency was related to body
mass index among adolescent girls aged 9-19 years. At baseline, there were
1,209 black and 1,166 white girls enrolled in a National Heart, Lung and Blood
Institute Growth and Health Study. Data on three-day food diaries as well as
height and weight of the girls was taken at annual in-person visits. Meal frequency
was determined from a 3-day food records of participants. The study findings
showed that on average, the girls who ate more than three meals per day had
lower body mass indices than those who consumed 3 meals only. The conclusion
drawn from this study was that meal frequency had a direct relationship to BMI
and should, therefore, be explored when developing programs for obesity
prevention. People who consume a few meals are at a higher risk of obesity
compared to those who consume higher number of meals. Higher meal frequency was
postulated to have metabolic advantages that help to lower BMI and obesity
(Frank et al., 2008)
The findings of
Frank et al. (2008) were corroborated in a later study conducted in 2013 at the
University of Eastern Finland. In this study evaluating the correlation between
meal frequency and adolescent obesity, it was showed that five regular meals
daily significantly reduced the risk of obesity in adolescents. The
population-based study involving over 4,000 participants was conducted by
collecting data from participants from birth up to the age 16. The aim of the
study was to identify the obesity risk factors as well as the association with
meal frequency and obesity. The results indicated that people who fed on a
regular pattern of five meals had reduced risk of being overweight and obesity
for both sexes. The study also found that skipping breakfast had an impact of
increased risk of obesity and higher BMI (University of Eastern Finland, 2013).
Obesity is a
condition of high accumulation of fat in the body and may result in
life-threatening conditions such as heart disease and obesity. It is evident
that higher frequency of meals could reduce the risk of obesity among
adolescents. This may be due to the metabolic benefits associated with regular
eating habits. Therefore, obesity prevention programs should focus on educating
patients and the public of the need for regular and higher frequency meals as
well as the disadvantages of skipping meals as a way of reducing weight.
Work cited:
Franko, D. L.,
Striegel-Moore, R. H. Thompson, D., Affenito, S. G., Schreiber, G B., Daniels, S. R. and Crawford, P. B. (2008). The relationship between meal
frequency and body mass index in black
and white adolescent girls: more is less. International Journal of Obesity 32, 23–29. Retrieved May 30, 2015 from:
University of
Eastern Finland. (2013). Five regular meals a day reduce obesity risk among adolescents. Science Daily. Retrieved May 30, 2015 from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/10/131003095450.htm
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