Meal patterns and obesity in Swedish women–a simple instrument describing usual meal types, frequency and temporal distribution

Objective To characterize meal patterns in relation to obesity in Swedish women using a simple instrument describing meal frequency, meal types and temporal distribution.Design Cross-sectional parallel group design.Subjects Eighty-three obese women from the Swedish Obese Subjects (SOS) study were compared with 94 reference women, randomly recruited from the population.Method A new, simplified and self-instructing questionnaire was used to assess meal patterns. Usual meal pattern was reported as time and meal type for each intake episode during a typical day.Results The obese women consumed 6.1 meals/day compared with 5.2 meals/day among the reference women (PConclusions A new simplified method assessing meal pattern revealed that the number of reported intake occasions across a usual day was higher in obese women compared with controls and the timing was shifted to later in the day. These findings should be considered in the treatment of obesity.