The study highlights 4 dietary habits for avoiding excess body weight, the most prominent of which are: breakfast every day and eating more than four meals a day. The widespread idea is that proper nutrition and physical activity are essential for combating obesity. It’s true. Both factors are undoubtedly of great importance in achieving this. However, recent research shows that certain eating habits can be just as important when it comes to fighting excess weight.

After analyzing the routines of 2,859 Spanish adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18, a group of researchers found that exercising certain habits is directly related to a suitable weight. In fact, experts found four specific behaviors that helped adolescents keep their weight and body fat levels within the correct range. These habits were:

• Eat more than four meals a day.
• Do not skip breakfast.
• Eat mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks.
• Eat at an appropriate speed.

According to their results, those who carried out these practices showed a normal weight and were less exposed to the risk of being overweight. Furthermore, scientists have warned that consumption of beverages such as soft drinks and isotonic drinks, among others, is not associated with weight gain. In other words, the fact that the adolescent usually drank these types of products made no difference to their weight, while the behaviors described above had a direct impact on her.
Entitled Eating habits and total and abdominal fat in Spanish adolescents, the study reaffirms the importance of proper nutrition and physical activity as two fundamental strategies in the fight against obesity, and also highlights the need to consider other behaviors to avoid being overweight: eat breakfast every day, eating more than four meals a day, having two snacks a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, and eating at a high speed are, according to their conclusions, four habits necessary to maintain an appropriate weight and proper body fat levels.

Source:
1. Sonia Gómez Martínez, et al. Dietary habits and total and abdominal fat in Spanish adolescents: influence of physical activity. AVENA study. Journal of Adolescent Health, 2012.