Prior to 1977, not only did we eat more dietary fat and fewer refined grains, we also ate less often. There were no official recommendations to change our eating patterns but we did, which probably has contributed to the obesity crisis. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study* in 1977 found that most people ate three times per day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. If you wanted an after-school snack, your mom said, “No, you’ll ruin your dinner.” If you wanted a bedtime snack, she just said no. Snacking was considered neither necessary nor healthy. A snack was a treat, to be taken only very occasionally. Yet now, we are often told that eating more frequently will help weight loss. No scientific data supports this assumption, and it has gained respectability only through mindless repetition. At first glance, it sounds pretty stupid. And it sounds stupid because it is stupid.

Reference: *Popkin BM, Duffey KJ. Does hunger and satiety drive eating anymore? Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 91: 1342–7.)