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.

Scientific Claim

In a cohort of 50,660 North American adults aged 30 and older, the association between meal timing and BMI change is not significantly modified by age, sex, or most lifestyle factors, suggesting that the observed patterns are robust across diverse subgroups within this population.

Original Statement

“There was little evidence of interactions with age and no significant differences. ... All covariates were set at the reference or mean values ... to capture the effect of the main exposure variables.”

From study:Meal Frequency and Timing Are Associated with Changes in Body Mass Index in Adventist Health Study 2.

Evidence Quality Assessment

Claim Status

appropriately stated

Study Design Support

Design supports claim

Appropriate Language Strength

association

Can only show association/correlation

Assessment Explanation

The authors appropriately report the absence of significant interactions and acknowledge race as the only notable modifier. Language is precise and aligned with observational evidence.

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

Meal Frequency and Timing Are Associated with Changes in Body Mass Index in Adventist Health Study 2.

Cohort Study

Human

2017 Sep

This study found that when people eat their biggest meal in the morning and avoid snacking, they tend to lose weight or gain less over time—and this pattern held true no matter their age, gender, or other habits.

Contradicting (0)

No contradicting evidence found

Source Study

Meal Frequency and Timing Are Associated with Changes in Body Mass Index in Adventist Health Study 2.

Score: 67

DOI: 10.3945/jn.116.244749

Similar Assertions

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.

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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.

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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.

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The healthiest pattern for avoiding weight gain seems to be eating just two meals — breakfast and lunch — with a few hours between them, and then not eating again until the next morning.

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For white people, eating the biggest meal at lunch seems to help prevent weight gain more than it does for Black people — suggesting that the same eating pattern might not work the same way for everyone.

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