Long-term weight loss and breakfast in subjects in the National Weight Control Registry

Objective: To examine breakfast consumption in subjects maintaining a weight loss in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR). Research Methods and Procedures: A cross-sectional study in which 2959 subjects in the NWCR completed demographic and weight history questionnaires as well as questions about their current breakfast consumption. An subjects had maintained a weight loss of at least 13.6 kg (30 lb) for at least I year; on average these subjects had lost 32 kg and kept it off for 6 years. Results: A large proportion of NWCR subjects (2313 or 78%) reported regularly eating break-fast every day of the week. Only 114 subjects (4%) reported never eating breakfast. There was no difference in reported energy intake between breakfast eaters and non-eaters, but breakfast eaters reported slightly more physical activity than non-breakfast eaters (p = 0.05). Discussion: Eating, breakfast is a characteristic common to successful weight loss maintainers and may be a factor in their success.