re: What will it take to reduce the obesity rate in the US?

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Here's an article that includes several studies that concluded that those who ate a healthy breakfast were more likely to maintain a healthy weight than those who skipped breakfast

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On the linked study, this is the full results

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Subjects who ate 1 or 2 meals/d had a reduction in BMI per year (in kg · m-2 · y-1) (-0.035; 95% CI: -0.065, -0.004 and -0.029; 95% CI: -0.041, -0.017, respectively) compared with those who ate 3 meals/d. On the other hand, eating >3 meals/d (snacking) was associated with a relative increase in BMI (P < 0.001). Correspondingly, the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (=18 h) decreased compared with those who had a medium overnight fast (12-17 h) (P < 0.001). Breakfast eaters (-0.029; 95% CI: -0.047, -0.012; P < 0.001) experienced a decreased BMI compared with breakfast skippers. Relative to subjects who ate their largest meal at dinner, those who consumed breakfast as the largest meal experienced a significant decrease in BMI (-0.038; 95% CI: -0.048, -0.028), and those who consumed a big lunch experienced a smaller but still significant decrease in BMI than did those who ate their largest meal at dinner.Conclusions: Our results suggest that in relatively healthy adults, eating less frequently, no snacking, consuming breakfast, and eating the largest meal in the morning may be effective methods for preventing long-term weight gain. Eating breakfast and lunch 5-6 h apart and making the overnight fast last 18-19 h may be a useful practical strategy.

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My takeaway from the linked study: 1-2 meals per day better for weight loss, but if you have to eat 3 meals per day (i.e. your lifestyle demands it), then eat your biggest meal in the AM and not late at night.

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So using scientific evidence deduced by medical doctors in clinical environments doesn't mean anything, but your opinion because it's "reality" does? Makes sense.

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Observational studies don't have reliable data. It's literally the same as having no data at all. You can immediately dismiss all of them as garbage if they don't have a subsequent real study to back up their hypothesis.

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Serious answer, stopping ridiculing good programs simply because of who instituted them would help. I'm not an Obama fan, but the way Michelle Obama was treated over her desire to help childhood obesity with healthier school lunches was ridiculous. Have yall been to any schools lately? There are a lot of fat kids going to school.

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It was admirable to want to combat childhood obesity, but school lunches aren't the problem honestly -- they haven't gotten anymore fattening over the last 25 years since I've eaten them, and yet childhood obesity rates have sky rocketed since I was in elementary school.

The problem is cultural and multifaceted. Kids aren't moving/exercising (they are video gaming or just sitting on their asses), recess/P.E. is being cut from schools,
parents aren't teaching their kids good eating habits or lifestyle choices (because they're either indifferent, ignorant, or "too busy"). frick, we as Americans can't even get up to toggle a light switch or adjust the AC settings in our home -- we do it by an app so we can sit our fat asses on the couch.

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So using scientific evidence deduced by medical doctors in clinical environments doesn't mean anything, but your opinion because it's "reality" does? Makes sense.

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This isn't my opinion. It's actual science, and years of it, and the majority of it. It's also a bit of basic biology and chemistry.

Again, feel free to bring any of these studies forward and explain them. I'd love to see that happen.

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Yeah let's blame this on the government and not personal responsibility.

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The government has been the main driver of the obesity epidemic. They took and ran with LOUSY and DISHONEST "nutrition science" and then codified it around 1980 with the absurd food pyramid. Americans LISTENED TO AND FOLLOWED this advice - to the point that it is now orthodoxy even among the healthcare professionals and other authorities they are supposed to be able to trust.

I'm usually big on the personal responsibility theme, but I really can understand when the average joe is completely perplexed by the conflicting messages of what he's being told.

We need to eliminate the food pyramid and make some kind of effort to remove carbs from EVERY SINGLE FOOD that people eat.

I truly don't understand why politicians haven't gone after the low hanging fruit of restricting food stamps to healthier essentials.

Water
Milk
Eggs
Bread
Cheese
Pasta
Fruit
Vegetables
etc.

Its always the people paying with government assistance that have family sized red drink jugs, off-brand tubs of ice cream, and 10 frozen dinners.

Two birds, one stone. Somebody needs to step up and lead that charge.

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t was admirable to want to combat childhood obesity, but school lunches aren't the problem honestly -- they haven't gotten anymore fattening over the last 25 years since I've eaten them, and yet childhood obesity rates have sky rocketed since I was in elementary school.

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I get that, I'm just saying that she was trying to make moves in an area where the government actually does have a say, and she got destroyed for it. That wasn't cool at all.

Can you imagine the outcry there would have been if she had came out and said "all yall fatasss need to get out and exercise with your fat arse kids, and we're gonna pass a law to make you do it?" LOL

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Again, feel free to bring any of these studies forward and explain them. I'd love to see that happen.

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Subjects who ate 1 or 2 meals/d had a reduction in BMI per year (in kg · m-2 · y-1) (-0.035; 95% CI: -0.065, -0.004 and -0.029; 95% CI: -0.041, -0.017, respectively) compared with those who ate 3 meals/d. On the other hand, eating >3 meals/d (snacking) was associated with a relative increase in BMI (P < 0.001). Correspondingly, the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (=18 h) decreased compared with those who had a medium overnight fast (12-17 h) (P < 0.001). Breakfast eaters (-0.029; 95% CI: -0.047, -0.012; P < 0.001) experienced a decreased BMI compared with breakfast skippers. Relative to subjects who ate their largest meal at dinner, those who consumed breakfast as the largest meal experienced a significant decrease in BMI (-0.038; 95% CI: -0.048, -0.028), and those who consumed a big lunch experienced a smaller but still significant decrease in BMI than did those who ate their largest meal at dinner.Conclusions: Our results suggest that in relatively healthy adults, eating less frequently, no snacking, consuming breakfast, and eating the largest meal in the morning may be effective methods for preventing long-term weight gain. Eating breakfast and lunch 5-6 h apart and making the overnight fast last 18-19 h may be a useful practical strategy.

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Synopsis:
Eating 1 or 2 meals a day is better than three
If you're going to eat 3, breakfast being the largest meal is the best option but worse than above.

Also

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Regular fasting, in addition to lowering insulin levels, has also been shown to improve insulin sensitivitysignificantly. 

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Growth hormone is known to increase the availability and utility of fats for fuel. It also helps to preserve muscle mass and bone density. Growth hormone secretion decreases steadily with age. One of the most potent stimuli to growth hormone secretion is fasting. Over a five-day fasting period growth hormone secretion more than doubled.

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Noradrenaline levels are increased so that we have plenty of energy to go get more food. For example, 48 hours of fasting produces a 3.6% increase in metabolic rate

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