SCRANTON, Pa.—Following the steadfast rule of eating three nutritious meals and two healthy snacks per day along with exercise may promote satiety and help maintain weight loss compared to skipping meals, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Researchers at Marywood University compared eating and exercise habits of 257 obese and normal-weight adults between ages 25 to 47 who participated in two large-scale studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The first study examined eating habits of people with a body mass index between 25 and 47; the other study looked at adults who had normal BMIs, half of whom had lost at least 30 pounds and maintained their lower weight for more than five years.
Over the course of one year, they found the normal weight participants consumed three meals and two snacks each day, compared to the overweight group that consumed three meals and one snack a day. They also found the overweight participants ate more than 2,060 calories per day and were less active, compared to the normal weight group who ate 1,900 calories and the weight loss maintainers who ate 1,800 calories a day. Weight loss maintainers also were the most physically active of the three groups.
