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2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews

Frequency of Eating Subcommittee

  • Frequency of Eating Subcommittee

    • Steven Heymsfield, MD, Louisiana State University, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Subcommittee Chair
    • Carol Boushey, PhD, MPH, RD, University of Hawaii
    • Heather Leidy, PhD, University of Texas at Austin
    • Richard Mattes, PhD, MPH, RD, Purdue University
    • Ronald Kleinman, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Vice-Chair of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

    Nutrition Evidence Systematic Review (NESR) Team

    • Emily Callahan, MS, Analyst, Office of Nutrition Guidance and Analysis (ONGA), Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
    • Gisela Butera, MLIS, MEd, Systematic Review Librarian, Panum Group 
    • Nancy Terry, MLS, Biomedical Librarian, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Library, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
    • Julie Obbagy, PhD, RD, Project Lead, ONGA, CNPP, FNS, USDA

    Federal Liaisons

    • Ashley Vargas, PhD, MPH, RDN, FAND, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, HHS
    • Meghan Adler, MS, RD, FAND, ONGA, CNPP, FNS, USDA
    • Rebecca MacIsaac, MS, RD, Division of Prevention Science (DPS), Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), HHS
    • Julia Quam, MSPH, RDN, DPS, ODPHP, OASH, HHS

    Project Leadership 

    • Eve Essery Stoody, PhD, Designated Federal Officer and Director, ONGA, CNPP, FNS, USDA
    • Janet de Jesus, MS, RD, Nutrition Advisor ODPHP, OASH, HHS 
    • Colette Rihane, MS, RD, Director, ONGA, CNPP, FNS, USDA (through October 2019)

    The Committee and NESR staff thank the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service for coordinating the peer review of this systematic review, and the Federal scientist peer reviewers for their time and expertise. For a list of the peer reviewers, see the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews Page.

Overview

The Frequency of Eating Subcommittee conducted 6 systematic reviews that examined the relationship between frequency of eating and health outcomes: 

  1. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and growth, size, body composition, and risk of overweight and obesity?
  2. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and risk of cardiovascular disease?
  3. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and risk of type 2 diabetes?
  4. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating during lactation and postpartum weight loss?
  5. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating during pregnancy and gestational weight gain?
  6. What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and all-cause mortality?

These reviews can be accessed below, and are discussed in the Scientific Report of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, Part D: Chapters 2, 3, and 13, which are available at DietaryGuidelines.gov.

For information on all systematic reviews conducted by the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee with support from NESR, including details about NESR’s systematic review methodology, see the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Systematic Reviews Page.

Every systematic review contains a summary, description, and synthesis of the evidence, data and risk of bias tables, graded conclusion statements, and research recommendations. The systematic review also details the protocol used in conducting the systematic review, including the analytic framework, inclusion and exclusion criteria, literature search strategy, searching and screening results, and lists of included and excluded articles. In addition, both a technical abstract and plain language summary are provided for each of the systematic reviews.

Systematic Review Questions

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and growth, size, body composition, and risk of overweight and obesity?

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and risk of cardiovascular disease?

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and risk of type 2 diabetes?

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating during lactation and postpartum weight loss?

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating during pregnancy and gestational weight gain?

What is the relationship between the frequency of eating and all-cause mortality?