Researchers seem to have confirmed that not eating breakfast doesn't help a person lose weight

This finding was derived from a study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

The study, which ran for 16 weeks, involved 309 obese or overweight adults between the ages of 20 and 65.

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Participants were divided into three groups. The first was asked to skip breakfast and the second ate breakfast every day.

The third was a control group made up of regular breakfast skippers and eaters who were merely given general dietary information.

Emily Dhurandhar, the study's lead author, said although there exists a relationship between breakfast and weight management, eating or skipping breakfast didn't cause any changes in weight.

"We should try to understand why eating or skipping breakfast did not influence weight loss, despite evidence that breakfast may influence appetite and metabolism," Dhurandhar shared.

Dhurandhar admitted that the study did have its limitations.

Firstly, the conclusion of the study was based on just body weight. Factors such as appetite, body fat percentage or metabolism were not considered.

Secondly, the research ended in 16 weeks. Therefore, it's not clear what the long-term effects of eating or skipping breakfast would be.

Participants also had their choice of breakfast food and quantity.

Dhurandhar shared although there were limitations to the study, their only objective was to test the general effect of breakfast.

She stated that future studies may be able to be more specific in its recommendations for more effective weight loss.

David Allison, Ph.D., director of the UAB Nutrition Obesity Research Center and senior investigator on the project, added, "This should be a wake-up call for all of us to always ask for evidence about the recommendations we hear so widely offered."