When it comes to weight loss, what seems to matter most is how often and how much you eat, rather than when you eat, according to researchers.

“We found that, on average, the more meals people ate throughout the day, or the more large meals they ate throughout the day, the more likely they were to gain weight over time,” said study author Dr. Wendy Bennett, an associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

By contrast, “eating more small meals during the day was associated with more weight loss.”

The team recruited 547 adults who were primary care patients in three health systems across Maryland and Pennsylvania. The patients’ average age was 51, and about three-quarters were women. The average body mass index (BMI) pre-enrollment was pegged at nearly 31. A BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.

All of the participants got a mobile application that enabled them to record their sleeping and eating routines on a daily basis, and to calculate meal habits. The study participants’ weight was tracked over six years.

After crunching the numbers, the research team concluded that regardless of current weight status there was no apparent link between when people ate their meals and any weight change.

Routinely eating more large meals and/or more medium meals was linked to greater likelihood of weight gain. Eating fewer, smaller meals was linked to weight loss.