Effect of recommendations of breakfast and late-evening snack habits on body composition and blood pressure: A pilot randomized trial

Abstract

ABSTRACT Breakfast skipping and late-evening snack are prevalent in young adults. This randomized controlled intervention aimed to evaluate the influence of meal habit recommendations on young adults’ body composition and blood pressure. Nonpregnant adults (≥20 y old) who were eligible for bioelectrical impedance analysis examination (neither pacemaker installed nor medications that would affect body composition, like diuretics or corticosteroids) were enrolled after they provided informed consent (n = 125). Subjects were randomized into three groups, every group receiving one of the following recommendations: (a) daily breakfast consumption (within 2 h after waking up), (b) avoidance of late-evening snacks (after 21:00h or within 4 h before sleep, with the exception of water), and (c) both recommendations. Body composition and blood pressure were measured before randomization at baseline and at the follow-up 1 y later. Intent-to-treat analysis showed that the recommendation of daily breakfast may contribute to a lower increment of diastolic blood pressure by 3.23 mmHg (95% CI: 0.17–6.28). Receiving the breakfast recommendation was associated with more reduction of total body fat percent by 2.99% (95% CI: 0.23–5.74) and percent trunk fat by 3.63% (95% CI: 0.40–6.86) in inactive youths. Recommendation of avoiding late-evening snack did not significantly affect the outcome measures (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03828812).