CAT Exam 2015 preparation 7

Eating only breakfast and lunch may be more effective at managing type 2 diabetes than eating smaller, more regular meals, scientists say. Researchers found that the volunteers who ate two meals a day lost more weight than those who ate six, and their blood sugar dropped. Scientists 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. The B2 group ate only breakfast and lunch, 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.

Which of the following strengthens the conclusion of the above study that eating two meals a day may be more effective at managing type 2 diabetes than eating smaller, more regular meals?

OPTIONS

     1)   The volunteers were given the freedom to choose their diets as long as the calorific value remained the same for each meal.
     2)   The volunteers were fed the same calorie diet spread over the course of two or six meals a day.
     3)    The average rate of metabolism of the first group of volunteers was much lower than that of the second.
     4)    The volunteers who were on two meals a day ate much less than those who were on six meals a day.