Abstract 08: Daily Energy Intake Distribution And Weight Gain In Women

Abstract

Background: Evidence points to an inverse relation between breakfast and obesity. Little information is available on the distribution of energy intake during the day and weight gain.

Methods: We evaluated the relation of the distribution of daily energy intake, eating frequency and weight change and weight gain in a prospective study of 61,543 disease-free French women in the E3N- EPIC cohort. At baseline in 1993, participants responded to a validated questionnaire on habitual diet over eight possible daily eating occasions. We calculated energy intake at various moments during the day. Women were categorized according to the energy distribution (% energy of total) for each eating moment into quintiles and according to the number of calorie-containing meals. Self-reported weight was updated on six occasions after baseline, using mailed questionnaires. Linear mixed models were used to evaluate mean weight change and Cox models to assess weight gain ≥5kg.

Results: Between 1993 and 2008, the mean weight change was +2.45 kg (SD± 0.2) and 22,808 women gained ≥5kg. After multivariable adjustment (including total energy), higher energy intake at breakfast was associated with a lower positive weight change from baseline, while higher energy intake at night was associated with a higher positive weight change (p-value <0.0001) (Figure). No association was observed for energy intake at midday or mid-afternoon. In multivariable models, HRs of gaining ≥5kg were 0.90 (95%CI 0.86-0.94; p-trend <0.0001) and 1.09 (95%CI 1.04-1.15; p-trend <0.0001) for women in the highest compared to the lowest energy consumption category at breakfast and at dinner, respectively. Conversely, eating frequency was directly associated to weight change (p-value <0.0001) but not ≥5kg weight gain.

Conclusion: Higher percent energy intake at breakfast was associated with a lower weight gain, while higher percent energy intake at dinner was associated with higher weight gain. The distribution of daily energy may be important for maintaining a healthy weight.