The theory is based on the thermic effect of feeding (TEF) which is how many calories your body burns off through thermogenesis while processing food. Think of it like this, ever eat a really big Thanksgiving meal and feel warm after? That is TEF. It is one factor among many used to determine metabolism. An estimate of someone's TEF is 10% of the total calories ate that day. This is a rough estimate as type of nutrients vary a lot in calculating TEF. One who consumes a lot of protein might have a higher TEF as it is harder to process than some dietary fats. So the theory of TEF is widely misunderstood and people thought hey!...... TEF burns calories so eating more frequently will increase TEF right? Wrong, notice how TEF is based on caloric intake not frequency of meals. If someone eats 3000 calories over 3 meals(1000 cals/each) or 3000 calories over 6 meals (500 cals/each) the TEF is the same.
With that being said I myself choose to consume 5-7 meals a day, depending on how long I am awake for and training days vs non training days. For me I find it easier as I eat a larger number of calories when I am trying to put on muscle before I compete. If I broke my meals into 3 they would be quite large and hard to finish. Some of my clients I make meal plans for go this route because they like to enjoy a snack with co-workers on a coffee break. I also have some clients who don't have time during the day to eat 5 or 6 meals. They might do construction or work in the oilfield where breaks aren't always possible so I base their meals plans eating less frequent meals. Both different scenarios will not affect metabolism. So in short do whatever works best for you!
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