Image copyright SPL Image caption Scientists prescribed two meals a day rich in fruit, vegetables and fibre 
 
 Only eating breakfast and lunch may be more effective at managing type 2 diabetes than eating smaller, more regular meals, scientists say. 
 
 Researchers in Prague fed two groups of 27 people the same calorie diet spread over two or six meals a day. 
 
 They found volunteers who ate two meals a day lost more weight than those who ate six, and their blood sugar dropped. 
 
 Experts said the study supported "existing evidence" that fewer, larger meals were the way forward. 
 
 Timing important? 
 
 Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce enough of the hormone insulin to function properly, or the body's cells don't react to insulin. 
 
 Since insulin controls the amount of sugar in the blood, this means blood sugar levels become too high. 
 
 Larger studies over longer periods of time will be needed to back up these findings before we would change advice Dr Richard Elliott, Diabetes UK 
 
 If untreated, it can lead to heart disease and stroke, nerve damage, light-sensitive eyes and kidney disease. 
 
 About 2.9 million people in the UK are affected by diabetes, 90% of whom have the type 2 form of the disease. 
 
 Current advice in the UK recommends three meals a day, with healthy snacks. 
 
 Scientists at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague divided a group of 54 volunteers aged 30 to 70 with type 2 diabetes into two groups of 27 people. 
 
 Volunteers were then given either a six-meal-a-day diet (A6) for 12 weeks followed by a two-meal day diet (B2), or vice versa. 
 
 The study compared two meals with six meals - as the latter accorded with current practice advice in the Czech Republic, researchers said. 
 
 Each diet contained on average 1,700 calories a day. 
 
 'Very pleasing' result 
 
 The B2 group ate between 06:00 and 10:00 and then between 12:00 and 16:00, and the A6 group ate their food throughout the day. 
 
 Weight loss for the B2 group averaged 1.4kg (3lb) more than A6, and they lost about 4cm (1.5in) more from their waistlines. 
 
 Lead scientist Dr Hana Kahleova, at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine, said the results were "very pleasing". 
 
 She said: "The patients were really afraid they would get hungry in the evening but feelings of hunger were lower as the patients ate until they were satisfied. 
 
 "But when they ate six times a day the meals were not leaving them feeling satisfied. It was quite surprising." 
 
 'Larger studies needed' 
 
 Dr Kahleova said the study could apply to people without diabetes who were trying to lose weight. 
 
 Dr Richard Elliott, research communications officer at Diabetes UK, said the study added to evidence that eating fewer, larger meals a day could be more effective than smaller, frequent meals at helping people manage their condition. 
 
 He added: "However, larger studies over longer periods of time will be needed to back up these findings before we would make changes to the dietary advice given to people with type 2 diabetes." 
 
 Dr Elliot said eating a healthy, balanced diet, being active and maintaining a healthy weight, alongside taking any medication was "vital" to effectively manage the condition. ||||| For people with Type 2 diabetes, eating two large meals a day may be better than consuming the same number of calories in six small meals. 
 
 Some diabetes experts recommend small meals as a better way to control metabolism; others believe eating three larger meals is better. Some believe it makes little difference one way or the other. 
 
 Czech researchers randomly assigned 54 diabetics ages 30 to 70 to a 12-week diet of either two or six meals a day. Both groups ate the same number of daily calories. Then the groups switched diets for another 12 weeks. The study appears online in Diabetologia. 
 
 The differences were not dramatic, but compared with those eating six meals a day, those who ate just breakfast and lunch reduced their weight and waist circumference. Those eating fewer meals also had improved fasting glucose levels, lower liver fat content and better insulin sensitivity. 
 
 “Not only our study, but others too, show that it may be more beneficial to eat a larger breakfast and lunch with a small dinner,” said the lead author, Dr. Hana Kahleova, a researcher at the Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine in Prague. “We confirmed the ancient proverb,” she added, “eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper.”
– "We confirmed the ancient proverb 'eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper,'" says the leader of a team of researchers that found eating just two meals a day can be an effective way to manage type 2 diabetes. The researchers split diabetic volunteers into two groups eating the same number of calories every day in either two meals or six meals and found that those who only consumed breakfast and lunch lost more weight, had lower blood sugar, and had better insulin management than those eating six meals a day, reports the New York Times. "The patients were really afraid they would get hungry in the evening but feelings of hunger were lower as the patients ate until they were satisfied," the lead researcher tells the BBC. "But when they ate six times a day the meals were not leaving them feeling satisfied. It was quite surprising." She added that the findings, as earlier studies have indicated, could be useful for non-diabetics who are trying to lose weight.