High-protein breakfast promotes weight loss by suppressing subsequent food intake and regulating appetite hormones in obese Chinese adolescents.

Objective: A high-protein diet may decrease food intake through regulating satiety and appetite hormones and can be an effective strategy for weight loss. Few studies exist on obese Chinese adolescents.

Methods: 156 obese Chinese adolescents were enrolled and randomly assigned to one of two isoenergetic breakfasts, either with egg or steamed bread. Subsequent lunchtime food intake was recorded 4 h later. Appetite was assessed with a visual analog scale. Anorexigenic hormones peptide YY (PYY), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and orexigenic hormone ghrelin were determined with radioimmunoassay at 0, 30, and 180 min. Body weight was recorded. The tests were repeated 3 months later. Analysis was performed between two tests and then two groups. Pearson's correlation was used for association analysis.

Results: Subsequent lunchtime food intake and body weight were decreased while satiety was increased in subjects on an egg breakfast, which is associated with an increase of serum PYY and GLP-1 (p < 0.001, respectively). There were strong correlations between weight loss, appetite, subsequent food intake and changes of appetite hormones.

Conclusions: A high-protein breakfast promotes weight loss in obese Chinese adolescents, possibly through its regulation of satiety, subsequent food intake and appetite hormones.