Yangbo Sun, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the UTHSC College of Medicine, is helping to expand the national discussion of cardiovascular health and healthy lifestyles.
With a research focus on chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, and breast cancer, Dr. Sun conducts research in areas of modifiable lifestyle risk factors, such as nutrition and physical activity.
An observational study published last year in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics by a team of researchers led by Dr. Sun, found eating one meal a day was associated with a higher risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality in adults aged 40 or older in the United States. In addition, skipping breakfast was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease death, while skipping lunch or dinner was associated with a higher risk of dying from all causes.
After participating in prior research with another colleague about the association of skipping breakfast and the risk of mortality, Dr. Sun wanted to expand the literature on risks associated with skipping meals.
“In that study, we actually found that skipping breakfast was associated with increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease. Then, I was thinking, what about skipping lunch or dinner?” Dr. Sun said. “We looked into the literature and could not find answers, and there was no previous study looking into skipping lunch or dinner with mortality, so we decided to return to conduct the study to find answers to those questions.”
Read more at our UTHSC news site.