Abstract
Background: Whether one should eat or skip breakfast for weight is of continued interest in both the scientific and lay communities. Our objective was to systematically review and meta-analyze causal effects of eating versus skipping breakfast on obesity-related anthropometric outcomes in humans. Methods: AltHealthWatch, CINAHL, Proquest Theses and Dissertations Global, PsycInfo, and Scopus were searched for obesity- and breakfast-related terms in humans (final search: 02 JAN 2020). Studies needed to isolate eating versus skipping breakfast in randomized controlled trials. Mean differences were synthesized using inverse variance random effects meta-analysis for each outcome measured in more than one study. Positive estimates indicate higher outcomes in breakfast conditions (e.g., weight gain). Leave-one-out analysis was used for sensitivity. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Results: Ten articles (12 comparisons) were included. Study lengths spanned 6 days to 16 weeks. Conditions included recommendations to eat versus skip breakfast, or provision of some or all meals. 95% confidence intervals of all main analyses included the null value of no difference for each outcome: body weight (0.17 kg [-0.40,0.74], k=12, n=486, I2=74.4), BMI (0.08 kg/m2 [-0.10,0.26, k=8, n=395, I2=53.9), body fat percentage (-0.27% [-1.01,0.47], k=6, n=179, I2=52.4), fat mass (0.24 kg [-0.21,0.69], k=6, n=205, I2=0.0), lean mass (0.18 kg [-0.08,0.44], k=6, n=205, I2=6.7), waist circumference (0.18 cm [-1.77,2.13], k=4, n=102, I2=78.7), waist:hip ratio (0.00 [-0.01,0.01], k=4, n=102, I2=8.0), sagittal abdominal diameter (0.19 cm [-2.35,2.73], k=2, n=56, I2=0.0), and fat mass index (0.00 kg/m2 [-0.22,0.23], k=2, n=56, I2=0.0). One study reported muscle mass and total body water percentage. Leave-one-out analysis did not indicate substantial influence of any one study. Conclusions: There was no discernible effect of eating or skipping breakfast on obesity-related anthropometric measures when pooling studies with substantial design heterogeneity and sometimes statistical heterogeneity. Registration: PROSPERO CRD42016033290.
Funder
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Subject
General Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics,General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine
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