No Causal Link Between Skipping Breakfast and Obesity

A new study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham challenges the popular notion that skipping breakfast makes individuals more likely to snack on high-calorie, high-fat foods throughout the day and overeat at later meals, leading to weight gain.

The UAB researchers sought to challenge the notion that eating a large breakfast and small dinner promoted weight loss, citing several previous studies finding that those who skip breakfast are more susceptible to the temptations of high-calorie food, and that fasting appears to condition the brain to seek out unhealthy options later in the day, for example. The authors claim that past research projects have at times failed to contribute any new knowledge to this topic, with findings manipulated to support a particular hypothesis.
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In their study, the UAB researchers trialed 309 otherwise healthy overweight and obese adults, spread across multiple locations. For 16 weeks, experimental groups were directed to either eat or skip breakfast, while a control group composed of those who ate breakfast and those who did not were given healthy nutrition advice that did not make reference to breakfast.

The authors found that weight loss was not influenced when comparing individuals who regularly ate breakfast to those who routinely skipped the meal, saying the results could be the first step toward re-evaluating what constitutes a healthy and balanced diet.

“Our findings suggest that for a low-intensity weight-loss intervention giving patients general guidance about how to eat healthy, according to USDA guidelines and leaves them to lose weight on their own, that adding a recommendation about breakfast does not have an impact on their weight loss,” says Emily Dhurandhar, PhD, assistant professor in the department of health behavior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and co-author of the study.

Of course, there may be other health-related reasons to suggest patients should consume breakfast, says Dhurandhar.

However, “we found that, in this context, it is not helpful for weight loss,” she adds, noting that “our findings cannot be applied to breakfast and weight maintenance or any outcome other than weight loss.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Brown A, Brown MB, et al. Belief beyond the evidence: using the proposed effect of breakfast on obesity to show 2 practices that distort scientific evidence. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013.