Skipping breakfast is associated with the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents: Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents - ERICA

Breakfast is considered as the most important meal of the day. The habit of skipping this meal in adolescence tends to remain until adulthood and has been associated with cardiometabolic risk factors. This study estimated the prevalence of skipping breakfast and its association with cardiometabolic risk factors. This is a cross-sectional study with data from the Study of Cardiovascular Risks in Adolescents (ERICA), with a nationally representative sample of 36,956 Brazilian adolescents, aged 10 to 17 years, enrolled in public and private schools. The outcomes were: excess body weight (body mass index), central obesity (waist circumference and waist/height ratio), lipid profile (total cholesterol, LDLc, HDLc, and triglycerides) and glycidic profile (fasting glycemia, fasting insulin, and glycated hemoglobin). The association between skipping breakfast and each outcome was estimated using multiple logistic regression models (Odds Ratio [OR] and 95% Confidence Interval). Prevalence of skipping breakfast was 68.7% and, after adjustments, it was associated with excess body weight (OR = 1.51), central obesity both by waist circumference (OR = 1.36) and by waist/height ratio (OR = 1.44) and high fasting glucose levels (OR = 1.54), fasting insulin (OR = 1.45), and glycated hemoglobin (OR = 1.23). Thus, skipping breakfast was high among adolescents and those who skip this meal are more likely to have total and central obesity, as well as high levels of total cholesterol, fasting insulin, fasting glycemia and glycated hemoglobin, regardless of factors relative to lifestyle and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

Keywords: Adolescents; Breakfast; Dyslipidemia; Glycidic profile; Obesity.