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Is breakfast associated with an increase of body weight in children? An international comparison based on the OBEY‐AD Study (621.4)
Author(s) -
Gregori Dario,
Vecchio Maria
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.28.1_supplement.621.4
Subject(s) - overweight , underweight , medicine , obesity , demography , morning , environmental health , childhood obesity , pediatrics , cross sectional study , gerontology , pathology , sociology
Objective. Childhood obesity is nowadays a global problem affecting not only developed countries but also both low and middle‐income ones, particularly in urban settings. Breakfast is very important for the maintenance of an adequate intake of vitamins and minerals and for the improvement of diet quality and health in children and adolescents. The aim of this study is to assess whether skipping breakfast is associated with the increase of body weight in children aged 3‐11 years. Study design. The OBEY‐AD is a cross‐sectional study which has been conducted in 9 countries (Argentina, Brasil, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, India, Italy and Mexico) enrolling 2635 children aged 3‐11 years, 50% females. Children’s BMI CDC z‐scores have been computed for each child and categorized accordingly as Normal, Overweight or Obese and as Underweight. Parents have been asked about breakfast habits in the family. A multivariable logistic model has been used to model risk of overweight or obesity in association with breakfast habits. Results. Overall, 70% of the children are having breakfast every day, consistently across the countries, varying from 64% in India up to 92% in France. About 14% of the children overall are not used to have breakfast in the morning. 29% of the children who are not taking breakfast were overweight or obese, as compared with 24% of those who are taking breakfast every day (p‐value =0.037). After adjustment for socio‐economic status of the family, BMI of the parents and physical activity, having breakfast every day resulted in a lowered risk of overweight of obesity as compared with no breakfast (OR 0.76, 95% C.I. 0.59‐0.97), consistently over all countries considered (p‐value for interaction terms 0.58). Conclusions. The data collected from the OBAY‐AD study indicate that skipping breakfast is associated with a higher risk of overweight of obesity. Promoting the breakfast consumption could be an important implication to prevent the weight gain in children.