title: The role of eating frequency on relative weight in urban school-age children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The role of eating frequency on relative weight in childhood is not well understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To clarify this relationship by assessing the cross-sectional and prospective relationships of weekday eating frequency with BMI z-score (BMIz) and change in BMIz in a sample of schoolchildren.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eating frequency, the average number of reported daily eating occasions, was assessed using two weekday 24-h diet recalls. BMIz was measured at baseline, 6 months and 1 year in 155 urban schoolchildren, ages 9-15 years. Multiple linear regression models were used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cross-sectional analyses at baseline suggest that BMIz was 0.23 units lower for each additional reported eating occasion (regression coefficient = -0.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.44, -0.07). From baseline to 6 months, BMIz increased by 0.03 units for each additional reported eating occasion (regression coefficient = 0.03; 95% CI: 0.01, 0.05). This relationship was no longer statistically significant at 1 year (regression coefficient = 0.01; 95% CI: -0.01, 0.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that the relationship of eating frequency with BMIz differs from that of change in BMIz. This difference may be due to methodological deficiencies of cross-sectional studies, challenges of dietary assessment or differences in eating patterns among normal and overweight youth. Controlled trials are needed to further clarify this relationship.
authors.affiliation: Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center, Brown University Medical School, Providence, RI, USA.
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.|Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.affiliation: Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.|Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Dallal
authors.affiliation: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sacheck
authors.affiliation: Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.|School of Medicine, Tufts University, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Must
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D017195:Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet; D002149:Energy Intake; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D015430:Weight Gain
keywords: Body mass index (BMI) z-score; childhood obesity; eating frequency; snacking