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

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

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

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.

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).

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.