Breakfast consumption and its socio-demographic and lifestyle correlates in schoolchildren in 41 countries participating in the HBSC study

Abstract

Objective To investigate associations of daily breakfast consumption (DBC) with demographic and lifestyle factors in 41 countries. Methods Design: Survey including nationally representative samples of 11–15 year olds (n = 204,534) (HBSC 2005–2006). Statistics: Multilevel logistic regression analyses Results DBC varied from 33 % (Greek girls) to 75 % (Portuguese boys). In most countries, lower DBC was noticed in girls, older adolescents, those with lower family affluence and those living in single-parent families. DBC was positively associated with healthy lifestyle behaviours and negatively with unhealthy lifestyle behaviours. Conclusion Breakfast skipping deserves attention in preventive programs. It is common among adolescents, especially girls, older adolescents and those from disadvantaged families. The results indicate that DBC can serve as an indicator to identify children at risk for unhealthy lifestyle behaviours.

Breakfast habits among European adolescents and their association with sociodemographic factors: the HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) study

“…Similar results were reported in a Dutch study (10) and in Spanish children and adolescents (12) . Sex differences in breakfast consumption have been reported in other studies (1,13) ; however, we found no differences between boys and girls in either frequency of breakfast consumption or breakfast quality. We did observe that girls were more likely to drink/eat 'tea and coffee' and 'butter' and less likely to eat 'meat, fish and eggs' for breakfast than boys, which concurs with results from other studies (10,24) .…”

“…Aranceta et al reported similar results in Spanish adolescents (12) . Other authors have also shown that younger European adolescents consume breakfast more often than their older counterparts (1,10,13) . More autonomy and independence in regard to food choices among older adolescents could explain the age decline in breakfast consumption (25) .…”

Prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity in French primary-school children

“…Indeed, children having breakfast every day had a lower risk than children who never or sometimes had breakfast. There is growing evidence of the association between regular breakfast consumption and health: breakfast intake may reduce the risk of chronic diseases due to its potential impact on the composition of overall diet (32,33) and also reduce the risk of becoming overweight (10,34,35) . Children from our 5-7-year-old sample eating at the canteen every day had a significantly lower risk of being obese than those who never ate at the canteen (data not available for the 7-11-year-old sample).…”

Family sociodemographic characteristics as correlates of children’s breakfast habits and weight status in eight European countries. The ENERGY (EuropeaN Energy balance Research to prevent excessive weight Gain among Youth) project

“…Previous studies examining the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and breakfast habits indicate that a child or adolescent living in a single-parent family (23) or in a family with low SES (17,(23)(24)(25) is more likely to have irregular breakfast consumption. However, cross-country comparative data on the prevalence of breakfast consumption or skipping, as well as on the association of SES with breakfast habits in children, is limited in Europe (23) . In this context, the first results from the ENERGY project showed that children's mean weekly breakfast consumption frequency in Europe was 5·9 d/week, ranging from 5·1 in Slovenia to 6·7 in Spain (26) , with no significant differences between boys and girls (8) .…”