Breakfast consumption with and without vitamin-mineral supplement use favorably impacts daily nutrient intake of ninth-grade students.

PURPOSE

To assess the contribution of breakfast consumption (with and without dietary supplement intake) on total daily nutrient intake of ninth-grade students.

METHODS

Twenty-four-hour recall of dietary intake was collected from a random sample of 711 ninth-grade students attending 12 Archdiocesan high schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Analysis of variance techniques, Pearson's Chi-square statistic, and Breznahn-Shapiro method with Scheffé probabilities were used to analyze nutrient intake data, dietary adequacy, and nonorthogonal comparisons, respectively.

RESULTS

Nineteen percent of 15-year-olds skipped breakfast, with more females skipping breakfast than males (23% vs. 14%, respectively). Thirty-six percent of nonwhite females versus 20% white females skipped breakfast. Eleven percent of subjects took some type of dietary supplement, most commonly a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Among those who ate breakfast, average energy intake from breakfast was 437 kcal. Percentage of total daily energy intake was higher from fats and lower from carbohydrates for adolescents who skipped breakfast, compared with adolescents who consumed breakfast. The percentage of subjects consuming at least two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance was significantly lower among adolescents skipping breakfast than those consuming breakfast.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of supplement use, breakfast consumption makes an important nutritional contribution to total daily intake of ninth-grade students. Encouraging breakfast consumption and healthful breakfast choices is an important step toward improving the nutritional quality of diets of this age group.