Even though older people tend to lose weight as they age, those who eat fewer meals or skip snacks still gain less weight than others their age — meaning meal habits matter no matter how old you are.

Whether you’re male or female, young or old, or active or not, eating meals at certain times still seems to affect your weight the same way — the pattern holds up for most people.

Each year, these eating habits only change your weight by a tiny bit — but over 20 or 30 years, that adds up to a big difference in whether you stay lean or gain a lot of weight.

Even though people might not remember exactly when they ate, the general patterns of when and how often they eat still line up with whether they gain or lose weight over time.

People who eat just one or two meals a day tend to gain less weight each year than those who eat three meals a day, even if they’re eating the same amount of food.

The more snacks or meals people eat in a day beyond three, the more weight they tend to gain each year — even if it’s just a little bit each year.