Decreased Eating Frequency Linked to Increased Visceral Adipose Tissue, Body Fat, and BMI in Hispanic College Freshmen

Background: To investigate the relationship between eating frequency and specific adiposity markers in a potentially high-risk and understudied population of Hispanic college freshmen.

Methods: This study included 92 Hispanic college freshmen (18-19 y). The following cross-sectional data were collected: height, weight, waist circumference, body mass index (BMI), dietary intake, body composition, physical activity, hepatic fat, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT).

Results: Infrequent eaters ate 44% less often (2.5 ± 0.2 vs. 4.5 ± 0.8,  ≤ 0.01) and consumed 27% more calories per EO ( ≤ 0.01), while consuming 21% less kcals per day ( ≤ 0.01) compared to frequent eaters. Infrequent eaters had 8% higher BMIs (24.8 ± 4.4 vs. 22.9 ± 3.2 kg/m) ( = 0.02) 60% higher BMI z-scores (0.5 ± 1.0 vs. 0.2 ± 1.0,  = 0.03) 21% higher VAT (298.3 ± 153.8 vs. 236.8 ± 78.2 ml,  = 0.03), 26% higher SAT (1150.1 ± 765.4 vs. 855.6 ± 494.6 ml,  = 0.03), and 8% higher total body fat (27.6 ± 10.8 vs. 25.3 ± 8.8%,  = 0.04) compared to frequent eaters while showing no significant difference in physical activity. These findings seem to be driven by females more than males.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that infrequent eating is related to increased adiposity in Hispanic college freshmen, despite a decreased daily energy intake and no significant differences in physical activity. Yet, more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms of these findings, as well as investigate any potential causal relationship between eating frequency and adiposity in Hispanic youth.