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  • Original Article
  • Published:

Pediatrics

Increased eating frequency linked to decreased obesity and improved metabolic outcomes

Abstract

Background:

We previously reported that more frequent eating in overweight minority youth was linked to lower visceral adiposity and circulating triglycerides. The aim of this study was to examine this issue in more detail by assessing the relationship between eating frequency and adiposity and metabolic disease risk in a cohort of exclusively overweight Hispanic youth.

Methods:

This analysis included 191 overweight (85th percentile body mass index (BMI)) Hispanic youth (8–18 years) with the following cross-sectional measures: height, weight, BMI, dietary intake via multiple 24 h recalls, body composition via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, lipids and insulin action (insulin sensitivity, acute insulin response (AIR) and disposition index, a measure of β-cell function) via a frequently sampled intravenous glucose tolerance test. Each eating occasion (EO) was defined as 50 calories and 15 min from any prior EO. Infrequent eaters (IEs) were classified as any subject who ate <3 EOs on any dietary recall (n=32), whereas frequent eaters (FEs) always consumed 3 EOs (n=159).

Results:

Using analyses of covariance, FEs compared with IEs consumed 23% more calories per day (P0.01), ate 40% more often and consumed 19% less calories per EO (P0.01). FEs also exhibited 9% lower BMI Z-scores (P0.01), 9% lower waist circumferences (P0.01), 29% lower fasting insulin (P=0.02), 31% lower HOMA-IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment: Insulin Resistance) values (P=0.02) and 19% lower triglycerides (P0.01), as well as an 11% higher AIR (P=0.02) and 31% higher disposition index (P=0.01). The following a priori covariates were included: Tanner, sex, body fat and reported energy intake.

Conclusion:

These findings suggest that increased eating frequency is related to decreased obesity and metabolic disease risk in overweight Hispanic youth, despite increases in energy intake.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an NIDDK (Grant R01-DK59211 to MG), and support from the General Clinical Research Center for Health Resources (Grant M01 RR 00043). JD and MG designed and supervised the research study used in this analyses; MG obtained the funding; BH, JD, SM, KP and GS analyzed data; BH and JD wrote the paper; all authors contributed to editing the manuscript; BH and JD had primary responsibility for the final content presented. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to J N Davis.

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House, B., Shearrer, G., Miller, S. et al. Increased eating frequency linked to decreased obesity and improved metabolic outcomes. Int J Obes 39, 136–141 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2014.81

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