Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science & Education, Harokopio University, Athens, Greece.
Department of Kinesiology and Health, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.
Nutr Diet. 2019 Jul;76(3):328-335. doi: 10.1111/1747-0080.12522. Epub 2019 Mar 5.
The aim of the present study was to examine prevalence and correlates of skipping breakfast in a representative sample of children and adolescents.
Cross-sectional, observational study. Population data derived from a school-based health survey carried out in 2015 on 177 091 Greek children aged 8-17 years. Trained investigators performed all anthropometric evaluations. Breakfast skipping and adherence to the Mediterranean diet (MD) was assessed through the Mediterranean Diet Quality Index for children and adolescents. Physical activity status, sedentary activities and sleeping hours were assessed through self-completed questionnaires.
Almost one in four (22.4% of boys, 23.1% of girls) schoolchildren skipped breakfast. Participants' characteristics associated with skipping breakfast were being female, being older, being overweight/obese, poorer diet, inadequate physical activity levels, insufficient sleep and increased screen time. Regression models adjusted for several potential confounders demonstrated that poor dietary habits, insufficient sleeping status (<8-9 hours per day), and increased screen time (>2 hours per day), increased the odds for skipping breakfast by almost 80% (95% CI: 1.78-1.82), 23% (95% CI: 1.20-1.26) and 22.5% (95% CI: 1.19-1.26), respectively.
Skipping breakfast was common among schoolchildren. Participants who skipped breakfast tended to have an unhealthy lifestyle profile. Policies designed to increase breakfast consumption should target schoolchildren with unhealthy lifestyle profiles.
本研究旨在调查儿童和青少年中不吃早餐的流行情况及其相关因素。
横断面观察性研究。从 2015 年在希腊进行的一项基于学校的健康调查中获取人口数据，该调查涉及 177091 名 8-17 岁的儿童。经过培训的调查人员进行了所有的人体测量评估。通过儿童和青少年地中海饮食质量指数评估不吃早餐和遵循地中海饮食的情况。通过自我报告的问卷评估身体活动状况、久坐活动和睡眠时间。
近四分之一（22.4%的男孩，23.1%的女孩）的学龄儿童不吃早餐。与不吃早餐相关的参与者特征包括女性、年龄较大、超重/肥胖、饮食较差、身体活动水平不足、睡眠不足和屏幕时间增加。调整了几个潜在混杂因素的回归模型表明，不良饮食习惯、睡眠不足（<8-9 小时/天）和屏幕时间增加（>2 小时/天），使不吃早餐的几率增加了近 80%（95%CI：1.78-1.82）、23%（95%CI：1.20-1.26）和 22.5%（95%CI：1.19-1.26）。
不吃早餐在学龄儿童中很常见。不吃早餐的参与者往往具有不健康的生活方式特征。旨在增加早餐摄入量的政策应针对具有不健康生活方式特征的学龄儿童。
