Eating Meals Irregularly: A Novel Environmental Risk Factor for the Metabolic Syndrome

Background: Skipping meals is a common practice in our current society; however, it is not clear whether eating meals regularly is associated with the metabolic syndrome. Objective: Our aim was to assess the association of eating meals regularly with parameters of the metabolic syndrome and insulin...

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Published in:	Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 1302 - 1307
Main Authors:	Sierra-Johnson, Justo, Undén, Anna-Lena, Linestrand, Madeleine, Rosell, Magdalena, Sjogren, Per, Kolak, Maria, Faire, Ulf de, Fisher, Rachel M, Hellenius, Mai-Lis
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-06-2008
Subjects:	blood serum Cardiovascular disease Cohort Studies Cross-Sectional Studies Data Collection diet-related diseases Eating - physiology eating habits Environmental risk Epidemiology Feeding Behavior - physiology Female food frequency questionnaires gamma-glutamyltransferase gamma-Glutamyltransferase - blood Humans Insulin resistance Insulin Resistance - physiology irregular eaters Laboratory tests lifestyle Logistic Models Male Meals medical history Medicin och hälsovetenskap men Metabolic disorders metabolic syndrome Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology Metabolic Syndrome - physiopathology Middle Aged obesity overweight Risk Factors socioeconomic status Socioeconomics women Sweden Germany
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Summary:	Background: Skipping meals is a common practice in our current society; however, it is not clear whether eating meals regularly is associated with the metabolic syndrome. Objective: Our aim was to assess the association of eating meals regularly with parameters of the metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in a representative population‐based cohort of 60‐year‐old men and women. Methods and Procedures: A population‐based cross‐sectional study of 3,607 individuals (1,686 men and 1,921 women), aged 60 years, was conducted in Stockholm County, Sweden. Medical history, socioeconomic factors, and lifestyle data were collected by a questionnaire and a medical examination, which included laboratory tests. Results: Of the subjects who were regular eaters, 20% fulfilled the criteria for the metabolic syndrome vs. 27% of subjects who were irregular eaters (P < 0.0001). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) for having the greatest number of components of the metabolic syndrome in subjects who were regular eaters was 0.27 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.13–0.54) using subjects who did not fulfill any criteria for the metabolic syndrome as a reference group. Eating meals regularly was also inversely related to insulin resistance (OR, 0.68 (95% CI, 0.48–0.97)) and to γ‐glutamyl transferase (OR, 0.52 (95% CI, 0.33–83)) after full adjustment. Discussion: Eating meals regularly is inversely associated to the metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance and (high) serum concentrations of γ‐glutamyl transferase. These findings suggest that eating meals irregularly may be part of several potential environmental risk factors that are associated with the metabolic syndrome and may have future implications in giving dietary advice to prevent and/or treat the syndrome.
Bibliography:	http://www.nature.com/oby/index.html ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	1930-7381 1930-739X
DOI:	10.1038/oby.2008.203