Beyond Calories: The effect of Meal Patterns on Obesity Risk in the IRanian National Obesity Registry

Abstract

Background: The prevalence of obesity is increasing. Eating habits are modifiable factors that may be effective in reducing obesity. We aimed to investigate the relationship between meal frequency and daily breakfast and the presence of obesity. Methods: A total of 4137 overweight and obese individuals registered on Iranian National Obesity Registry (IRNOR) in 2022 were recruited into this is cross-sectional study. Individual data was recorded using a self-reported questionnaire. Multivariate logistic and linear regressions were used to evaluate the association between meal frequency, daily breakfast and obesity. Results: There was a lower significant odd of obesity (OR= 0.80, 95%CI: 0.69-0.93; p=0.004) in people who reported having more than three meals a day. There was a lower odd of obesity (OR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.69-0.91; p=0.001) in individuals who had daily breakfast and higher odds of obesity (OR=1.21, 95%CI: 1.03-1.42; p<0.01) for individuals who reported dinner as their main meal of the day. There was a significant association between eating frequency and daily breakfast with central obesity in men and in women; there was a significant inverse relationship between eating breakfast and central obesity. Conclusion: Meal frequency and eating breakfast daily as a modifiable eating habits can lead to improve obesity.

Keywords: obesity, BMI, waist circumference, breakfast, meal skipping