Frequency of breakfast consumption and its associations with food consumption by degree of industrial processing and with indicators of overweight in Brazilian adolescents (EVA-JF Study)

• Published in: Nutrition (Burbank, Los Angeles County, Calif.) Vol. 117; p. 112226
• Main Authors: Cândido, Ainoã Cristina de Oliveira, Neves, Felipe Silva, Fontes, Vanessa Sequeira, Melo, Adriana Soares Torres, de Faria, Eliane Rodrigues, Netto, Michele Pereira, Oliveira, Renata Maria Souza, Machado-Coelho, George Luiz Lins, Cândido, Ana Paula Carlos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Limited 01-01-2024
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescents; Age; Body composition; Body fat; Body mass index; Body size; Body weight; Brazil - epidemiology; Breakfast; Child development; Cross-Sectional Studies; Descriptive labeling; Diet; Eating behavior; Education; Elementary schools; Energy Intake; Fast Foods; Feeding Behavior; Food; Food analysis; Food consumption; Food intake; Food processing; Humans; Indicators; Nutrition research; Obesity; Overweight; Overweight - epidemiology; Processed foods; Public schools; Regression analysis; Regression models; Sample size; Schools; Secondary schools; Sexes; Sociodemographics; Statistical analysis; Teenagers; Brazil; United States > US; Obesity; Breakfast; Ultra-processed foods; Food consumption; Risk factors; Adolescent
• ISSN: 0899-9007; 1873-1244; 1873-1244
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nut.2023.112226

The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of breakfast consumption and estimate its associations with the consumption of food at different degrees of industrial processing and with overweight indicators in Brazilian adolescents.
This cross-sectional study involved a probabilistic sample of 14- to 19-y-old adolescents enrolled in 29 public schools in the municipality of Juiz de Fora, MG, Southeast Brazil (n = 805). The frequency of breakfast consumption was evaluated via a questionnaire (classified into "do not consume", "sometimes consume", and "regularly consume"). The evaluation of food consumption involved two 24-h dietary recalls, the items of which were analyzed according to the NOVA classification system. Overweight indicators (waist circumference, body mass index for age (BMI-for-age), and body fat percentage) were evaluated according to a standard protocol. Linear regression models were performed, first without and then with adjustments for sociodemographic characteristics.
We found that 20% of adolescents skipped breakfast, and ∼46% of the caloric intake came from ultra-processed foods. Breakfast omission was associated with a mean increase of 3.02% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52-5.53) in energy intake from ultra-processed foods, in addition to a mean increase of 0.28 z-score (95% CI, 0.05- 0.52) of BMI-for-age and of 1.64% (95% CI, 0.21-3.08) in body fat.
We verified that the omission of breakfast was associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods, as well as a higher BMI-for-age and higher percentage of body fat, reinforcing the importance of actions to encourage the consumption of this meal and the adoption of healthy eating practices in adolescents.