Effect of Breakfast on Weight and Energy Intake:
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
to examine the effect of regular breakfast consumption on weight
change and energy intake in people living in high income countries.
These trials published between January 1990 and
January 2018 investigating the effect of breakfast on weight or energy
compared breakfast consumption with no breakfast consumption with
a measure of body weight or energy intake
Of 13 included trials, seven examined the effect of eating breakfast on weight change, and 10 examined the effect on energy intake. Meta-analysis of the results found a small difference in weight favoring participants who skipped breakfast. Participants assigned to breakfast had a higher total daily energy intake than those assigned to skip breakfast
This study suggests that the addition of breakfast might not be a good strategy for weight loss, regardless of established breakfast habit. Caution is needed when recommending breakfast for weight loss in adults, as it could have the opposite effect.