New research from Cardiff University suggests that children who snack or graze throughout the day, instead of eating regular meals, may not grow as well as they could.
The study found that structured mealtimes—breakfast, lunch, and dinner—can support healthier growth by encouraging natural rhythms of key growth hormones in the body.
Dr. Tim Wells and his team at Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences wanted to explore how modern eating habits might be affecting children’s development.
As more children today are snacking throughout the day instead of sitting down for traditional meals, the researchers investigated how this shift could be influencing hormones that play a major role in growth.
The study looked at two important hormones—ghrelin and growth hormone. Ghrelin is released when the stomach is empty and signals hunger.
It also helps trigger the release of growth hormone, which supports height and healthy tissue development, especially in children.
In experiments with rats and mice, researchers found that animals fed in structured mealtimes grew better than those allowed to eat small amounts throughout the day.
They measured the width of a bone growth plate in the leg, a reliable marker of skeletal growth, and found more growth in animals that had regular meals.
Interestingly, when the scientists tested mice that were genetically modified to not respond to ghrelin, the benefits of structured meals disappeared.
This confirmed that the hormone ghrelin plays a critical role in how meal timing affects growth.
The researchers also conducted a small human study using volunteers who were fed through a nasogastric tube—a feeding tube that goes through the nose into the stomach. Some volunteers received their nutrition in constant small amounts (mimicking grazing), while others received it in separate meals.
They discovered that people who were fed continuously had high levels of ghrelin all the time—as if their bodies thought they were constantly hungry. This led to constant but ineffective levels of growth hormone.
For growth hormone to work properly, it needs to rise and fall in natural bursts, which only happened in those who received meals rather than continuous feeding.
The findings suggest that constant snacking could confuse the body’s hormone rhythms, making growth less efficient. Although the research was done only in male animals and humans, the results raise important questions about how meal timing affects development.
Dr. Wells says the study supports the idea that regular meals—not all-day snacking—might help children grow better. More research is needed, especially in girls, but the message is clear: structured meals could play a big role in healthy growth.
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