Pediatric Original Article
International Journal of Obesity (2008) 32, 23–29; doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803654; published online 12 June 2007
The relationship between meal frequency and body mass index in black and white adolescent girls: more is less
D L Franko1, R H Striegel-Moore2, D Thompson3, S G Affenito4, G B Schreiber5, S R Daniels6 and P B Crawford7
- 1Department of Counseling & Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA
- 2Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, USA
- 3Maryland Medical Research Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
- 4Department of Nutrition, St Joseph College, West Hartford, CT, USA
- 5Westat Inc., Rockville, MD, USA
- 6Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
- 7School of Public Health and Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
Correspondence: Dr DL Franko, Department of Counseling and Applied Educational Psychology, Northeastern University, 203 Lake Hall, 360 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115-5000, USA. E-mail: d.franko@neu.edu
Received 5 October 2006; Revised 26 March 2007; Accepted 11 April 2007; Published online 12 June 2007.
Abstract
Objective:
To document meal frequency and its relationship to body mass index (BMI) in a longitudinal sample of black and white girls from ages 9–19 years.
Design:
Ten-year longitudinal observational study.
Subjects:
At baseline, 1209 Black girls (539 age nine years, 670 age 10 years) and 1,166 White girls (616 age nine years, 550 age 10 years) were enrolled in the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Growth and Health Study (NGHS).
Measurements:
Three-day food diaries, measured height and weight and self-reported physical activity and television viewing were obtained at annual in-person visits.
Results:
Over the course of the study, the percentage of girls eating 3+ meals on all 3 days was reduced by over half (15 vs 6%). Participants who ate 3+ meals on more days had lower BMI-for-age z-scores. Black girls, but not white girls, who ate 3+ meals on more days were less likely to meet criteria for overweight.
Conclusion:
Meal frequency was related to BMI and should be considered when developing guidelines to prevent childhood overweight.
Keywords:
meals, body mass index, adolescence, overweight
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