The influence of feeding patterns on the growth of rat

To see the influence of a restricted diet and a meal feeding for the growing Wistar rats were subjected to three types of feeding patterns, free access feeding, three meals and one meal per day. The animals of each feeding pattern group were fed either unrestricted and restricted amount of diet. The restricted group received only 60% weight of the diet taken by the unrestricted groups. The growth of the animals having free access to the restricted amount of diet was almost similar to that of those having received the restricted amount of diet three meals per day rather than to the group fed the unrestricted diet once per day. The former group seemed to be a "nibbler type" rather than a "meal feeder type".