Research lacking probative value (RLPV) and biased research reporting (BRR) influence popular beliefs beyond what scientific evidence can justify. Dr. Andrew W. Brown, and Dr. Michelle M. Bohan Brown, postdoctoral trainees in the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health, investigated the prevalence of RLPV and BRR in the proposition that skipping breakfast causes weight gain, also known as the proposed effect of breakfast on obesity (PEBO). Drs. Brown and Bohan Brown, along with colleague Dr. David B. Allison, director of NORC, synthesized studies related to the PEBO using a cumulative meta-analysis, and rated the studies’ abstracts for the improper use of causal language and biased interpretations. In separate analyses, articles citing an observational study about the PEBO were rated for the inappropriate use of causal language, and articles that cited a randomized controlled trial (RCT) about the PEBO were rated for misleadingly citing the RCT.