Breakfast frequency, adiposity, and cardiovascular risk factors as markers in adolescents

Abstract

AbstractObjectiveTo analyse the relationship between skipping breakfast and haemodynamic, metabolic, inflammatory, and cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out with information from an ongoing cohort study in Presidente Prudente, São Paulo, Brazil. The sample comprised of 120 adolescents (11.7±0.8 years old) who met the following inclusion criteria: age between 11 and 14 years; enrolled in the school unit of elementary education; absence of any known disease; and no drug consumption. The parents or legal guardians of the patients signed a formal informed consent. Skipping breakfast was self-reported through face-to-face interviews. Blood pressure, intima-media thickness, trunk fatness, total and fractional cholesterol levels – high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol – triacylglycerol levels, and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein levels were measured.ResultsIn this study, 47.5% (95% CI: 38.5–56.4%) of the adolescents reported skipping breakfast at least 1 day/week. Adolescents who skipped breakfast had higher values of trunk fatness and systolic blood pressure. Breakfast frequency was negatively related to systolic blood pressure (β −1.99 [−3.67; −0.31]) and z score dyslipidaemia (β −0.46 [−0.90; −0.01]), but this relationship was mediated by trunk fatness.ConclusionSkipping breakfast is related to cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents, and this relationship was mainly mediated by trunk fatness.