Breakfast Frequency Is Inversely Associated with Weight Gain in a Cohort of Mexican Women

Abstract

Background: Food timing affects circadian rhythms involved in weight control. Regular consumption of breakfast may affect body weight.

Objective: We examined the relation between breakfast frequency with weight change in middle-age women over a 3-y period.

Methods: We used data from 65,099 nonpregnant women aged >20 y participating in the Mexican Teachers' Cohort (MTC) who at baseline (2006-2008) were cancer free and for whom self-reported breakfast frequency at baseline was available. We analyzed body weight change between baseline and the first follow-up (2011) according to breakfast frequency. Participants were classified according to baseline breakfast frequency 0, 1-3, 4-6, or 7 d/wk and meal frequency 1-2, 3-4, or ≥5 meals/d. We used linear and modified Poisson regression to analyze body weight change as a continuous variable and for weight gain ≥5 kg (yes/no), respectively. Models were adjusted for sociodemographic and lifestyle confounders.

Results: At baseline, 25% of participants were daily breakfast consumers and 18.4% of women increased ≥5 kg between 2008 and 2011. The prevalence of weight gain ≥5 kg among daily breakfast consumers was 7% lower than among those who skipped breakfast (prevalence ratio: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.89, 0.97; P-trend = 0.02). The association was stronger among normal-weight women at baseline with a corresponding estimate of 0.87 (95% CI: 0.79, 0.97; P-trend = 0.02).

Conclusion: Daily breakfast consumption was inversely associated with weight gain ≥5 kg over 3 y in middle-aged Mexican women. Regular breakfast may be an important dietary factor for body weight change.

Keywords: Mexico; body weight change; breakfast; longitudinal study; meal frequency; meal pattern.