Wrapping it all up!

When I started this project, I wanted to dig a bit deeper on the benefits of nibbling diet. I found out there are many more health benefits to this eating patten other than weight loss.

After reviewing all of the evidence published in the media sources and in the research, it seems like the nibbling diet has some great benefits, especially if this is the type of diet patten that would suit your lifestyle (like mine- a busy college student with a varying schedule).

In a paper written by  Lea Countryman and Brian Morgan, the authors point out that one of the major benefits of the nibble eating pattern is that eating smaller meals does help regulate appetite and you are less likely to overindulge at a certain meal. In the article, Countryman and Morgan cite that those who eat four or more meals a day are 45 percent less likely to be obese.

Some of the new evidence that Countryman and Morgan mention in their article is that eating more frequently increases the risk for colorectal cancer. By eating more often, this exposes the colon to higher amounts of bile and stomach acid, which can make the colon more vulnerable to develop cancer. I found this interesting, because through all of my research this was the first time that I came across a negative side effect of increasing meal frequency. This effect was also only found among men. However, there are still other studies out there that claim otherwise. For example, in Eating Frequency and risk of Colorectal Cancer, the researchers found that there was a weak inverse association between meal frequency and risk of colorectal cancer.  This is not the first instance of conflicting evidence I have come across in this project (remember the study on obesity and thermogenesis?).  This second inconsistency made me start to question some of the other research that I had come across, and the strength of their associations, and if gender would have a role in all of this research.

Based on my investigation into this "myth", I would want to highlight the following points about this diet:

- Pack snacks or meals in proper portions so you do not end up overeating.

- Try to avoid packaged snacks, stick to fresh fruits and vegetables (This is a great way to add nutrients to the diet while managing appetite.

-Try to schedule meals or stick to a routine everyday, if you tell yourself that you can snack whenever this could lead to overeating.

I believe that the nibbling diet could improve your overall health if it is managed properly and meals are planned in advance, then this could be a good technique to help manage health.

One of my main reasons behind choosing meal frequency as my topic was that I wanted to find out more health benefits with this type of meal pattern. It seemed that everything in the media was focused on the weight loss benefit, while most of the scientific research found other health benefits. I personally feel that the pop-medicine publishers are focusing on the wrong benefits, and need to incorporate more of the health benefits into their articles. I am disappointed that these sources that the majority of the population turn to fail to provide more discussion on other health benefits besides weight loss.


References:
Countryman, Lea, and Brian Morgan. Nibbling versus Gorging: More Meals May Mean More Health. N.p.: n.p., 2005. DOC.

"Healthy Bedtime Snack Choices for Kids." WJHG RSS. NBC News, 15 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Perrigue, M. M., Kantor, E. D., Hastert, T. A., Patterson, R. E., Potter, J. D., Neuhouser, M. L., & White, E. (2013). Eating frequency and risk of colorectal cancer. Cancer Causes & Control : CCC, 24(12), 10.1007/s10552–013–0288–8. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0288-8

Snacktime: A simple solution to the obesity epidemic?

After listening to Debbie Kibbe's lecture in class today on childhood obesity, I started thinking more about my own experiences as a child with food. My family ate dinner together almost every evening, my mom hardly allowed me to eat a school lunch, and I still have a fond memory for the orange slices served at soccer practice. Reminiscing about snacks made me think about snack time in class, I remember we used to have animal crackers and apple juice served in dixie cups after recess. The food in our schools is atrocious, and it is especially easy to point to when discussing childhood obesity.

I started to think more about the topic, especially since we have been discussing school lunches in Professor Hobb's Nutrition Across the Life Cycle Course. Schools have tried to improve the quality of nutrition through many federal programs, but none are perfect. Learning about childhood obesity and thinking about how snacking is closely engrained in the American culture through school (snack time in class, eating snacks between class, having an after school snack) I wanted to see how this tied into my personal project.

I did some research and found out that I was not the only one interested in learning about the link between childhood obesity and snacking (or meal frequency). Researchers in Germany were interested in finding out more about the relationship between children eating snacks at school and obesity. I believe that this is some of the most significant research I have come across so far in this project, because obesity is a chronic disease that can be carried onto the next generation.

The researchers were prompted to conduct their study because of the other existing literature that establishes an inverse association between meal frequency and obesity, and they wanted to see if the same relationship existed among children. I was slightly surprised when the researchers concluded that there was a dose response relationship between childhood obesity and the number of meals consumed through out the day. The main difference between this study and all the others is the sample size, the Toschke article had a sample size of 2,300 students.

At first when reading this article, I was well aware that the sample came from Germany. So any obesity in the study could not be blamed on the American School lunches and snacks. However, I was interested to find out that in a study referenced in the article, the researchers came to the same conclusion that increased meal frequency had a protective effect on obesity. The only downside to the American study was that their results were not deemed statistically significant due to sample size.

Toschke and his coauthors cite reasons such as increase in thermogenesis after consumption, lower insulin levels among nibblers, and possibly physical activity behind the association between high food frequency and lower obesity levels. They also link the meal frequency back to the common issue of skipping breakfast, since many children often skip the first meal of the day. I thought that this was an interesting connection that the author made.

As one of my last blog posts in this series, I wanted to share this research with you. I think it is horrible how the pop culture media portrays this myth without looking at the other health benefits of nibbling. I am not claiming that increasing the number of snacks in schools is going to cure obesity, but I think it could be worth investing in learning more about the association in America.



References:

Toschke, A. M., Küchenhoff, H., Koletzko, B. and Von Kries, R. (2005), Meal Frequency and Childhood Obesity. Obesity Research, 13: 1932–1938. doi: 10.1038/oby.2005.238 

"Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs." Hawaii Child Nutrition Programs. Hawaii Department of Education, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2016.