Meal time and meal regularity: is it associated with pediatric obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors' conclusion
Skipping any main meals significantly increases risk of OW/OB in children and adolescents.
Study context
- Population
- Children and adolescents below 18 years old from 22 countries; studies published 2014–2023
- Participants
- 102,335 children30 observational studies
- Comparison
- Meal timing and meal regularity and OW/OB
- Outcome
- Overweight/obesity (OW/OB)
Methodological detailsPRISMA guidelines, Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment
- PRISMA guidelines
- Newcastle-Ottawa Scale quality assessment
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Pediatric OW/OB
Odds ratio (95% CI)P value
Skipping breakfast
1.26(1.11–1.43)
P = 0.0003Skipping lunch
1.24(1.00–1.53)
P = 0.05Skipping dinner
1.42(1.18–1.71)
P = 0.0002Meal irregularity
1.10(0.81–1.49)
P = 0.55Late-night eating
0.90(0.64–1.26)
P = 0.55Meal before bedtime
0.97(0.68–1.38)
P = 0.86Original publication
Meal time and meal regularity: is it associated with pediatric obesity? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Obes (Lond). Published 12 May 2026. doi:10.
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