Study: Obese Women Eat One Extra Meal Each Day

Women who are obese eat one more meal each day than non-obese women, according to Swedish researchers. They also tend to eat more food later in the day.

Researchers surveyed 83 obese women and 94 normal weight women, using a questionnaire to identify meal patterns. The eating occasions were divided into main meals, light meals, snack meals and drinks.

The obese women ate 6.1 meals per day compared with the non-obese women who only ate 5.2 meals. The obese women ate all types of meals except drink meals more frequently than the non-obese women, according to the study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Obese women were as likely as normal-weight women to eat breakfast. However, the obese women ate more meals later in the day, evening or night than the non-obese women and ate more between-meal snacks.

"A new simplified method assessing meal pattern revealed that the number of reported intake occasions across a usual day was higher in obese women compared with controls and the timing was shifted to later in the day," concluded the researchers. "These findings should be considered in the treatment of obesity."

Other sources: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition