According to a recent study, mid-morning snacking might be the most detrimental type of snacking. MSNBC reports that women taking part in a weight loss study who ate a midmorning snack lost an average of 7 percent of their body weight over the course of a year, whereas women who did not snack before lunch lost 11 percent of their body weight.
Midmorning snacking “might be a reflection of recreational or mindless eating habits, rather than eating to satisfy true hunger,” said study researcher Anne McTiernan, director of the prevention center at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
The study included 123 overweight and obese women between the ages of 50 and 75. The participants were taking part in a larger study designed to help them lose weight, and to examine the effects of diet and exercise on breast cancer.
Women who snacked in the morning were more likely to snack more frequently throughout the day. The study showed that 47.8 percent of those who ate a midmorning snack reported they ate three or more snacks daily, while 38.9 percent of women who ate a snack in the evening reported eating that many snacks.
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