Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Skipping breakfast is associated with lower diet quality in young US children

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 72, pages 548–556 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/objectives

Breakfast consumption has been shown to impact children’s growth and development, but the influence of breakfast skipping on total daily intakes is not known. The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in nutritional intakes and food consumption between children who consume breakfast versus those who do not.

Subjects/methods

Dietary recall data were assessed for 2-year-old to 5-year-old children (n = 3443) and 6-year-old to 12-year-old children (n = 5147) from NHANES 2005–2012. Dietary intakes and diet quality scores were compared across breakfast consumption and skipping with means and 95% confidence interval.

Results

Children who skipped breakfast on the day of intake had significantly lower energy intakes for the total day (5911 vs 6723 kJ) but had greater energy intakes from non-breakfast meals and snacks. Children who skipped breakfast consumed nearly 40% of the day’s intake (2332 kJ of 5911 kJ) from snacks, with 586 kJ from snacks as added sugars. Breakfast skipping was also related to significantly lower intakes of fiber, folate, iron, and calcium intakes. Overall diet quality scores, as well as fruit, whole fruit, whole grains, dairy and empty calorie subscale scores were significantly better in children who ate breakfast.

Conclusions

Children who skipped breakfast presented poorer overall diet quality and lower total intakes commonly obtained at breakfast. To address missed opportunities, nutrition professionals should encourage children’s consumption of a nutritious breakfast to support overall diet quality.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1

References

  1. Kerver JM, Yang EJ, Obayashi S, Bianchi L, Song WO. Meal and snack patterns are associated with dietary intake of energy and nutrients in US adults. J Am Diet Assoc. 2006;106:46–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rampersaud GC, Pereira MA, Girard BL, Adams J, Metzl JD. Breakfast habits, nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents. J Am Diet Assoc. 2005;105:743–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Mhurchu CN, Blakely T, Jiang Y, Eyles HC, Rodgers A. Effects of price discounts and tailored nutrition education on supermarket purchases: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010;91:736–47.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Edwards JU, Magel R. Use of the youth risk behavior survey to monitor trends for nutrition and physical activity in a Midwest city school district. J Sch Health. 2007;77:351–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Edwards JU, Mauch L, Winkelman MR. Relationship of nutrition and physical activity behaviors and fitness measures to academic performance for sixth graders in a midwest city school district. J Sch Health. 2011;81:65–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Raaijmakers LG, Bessems KM, Kremers SP, van Assema P. Breakfast consumption among children and adolescents in the Netherland. Eur J Public Health. 2009;20:318–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Zullig KJ, Pun S, Patton JM, Ubbes VA. Reliability of the 2005 middle school youth risk behavior survey. J Adolesc Health. 2006;39:856–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Alexander KE, Ventura EE, Spruijt‐Metz D, Weigensberg MJ, Goran MI, Davis JN. Association of breakfast skipping with visceral fat and insulin indices in overweight Latino youth. Obesity. 2009;17:1528–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Mahoney CR, Taylor HA, Kanarek RB, Samuel P. Effect of breakfast composition on cognitive processes in elementary school children. Physiol Behav. 2005;85:635–45.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Florence MD, Asbridge M, Veugelers PJ. Diet quality and academic performance. J Sch Health. 2008;78:209–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hayes D, Spano M, Donnelly JE, Hillman CH, Kleinman R. Proceedings of the Learning Connection Summit: Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Student Achievement. Nutr Today. 2014;49:18–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Veldhuis L, Vogel I, Renders CM, van Rossem L, Oenema A, HiraSing RA, et al. Behavioral risk factors for overweight in early childhood; the ‘Be active, eat right’ study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2012;9:1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Kleinman RE, Hall S, Green H, Korzec-Ramirez D, Patton K, Pagano ME, et al. Diet, breakfast, and academic performance in children. Ann Nutr Metab. 2002;46:24–30.

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Liu J, Hwang WT, Dickerman B, Compher C. Regular breakfast consumption is associated with increased IQ in kindergarten children. Early Hum Dev. 2013;89:257–62.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Pereira MA, Erickson E, McKee P, Schrankler K, Raatz SK, Lytle LA, et al. Breakfast frequency and quality may affect glycemia and appetite in adults and children. J Nutr. 2011;141:163–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Duncan JS, Schofield G, Duncan EK, Rush EC. Risk factors for excess body fatness in New Zealand children. Asia Pacific. J Clin Nutr. 2008;17:138–47.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Grydeland M, Bergh IH, Bjelland M, Lien N, Andersen LF, Ommundsen Y, et al. Correlates of weight status among Norwegian 11-year-olds: The HEIA study. BMC Public Health. 2012;12:1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Mullan B, Wong C, Kothe E, O’Moore K, Pickles K, Sainsbury K. An examination of the demographic predictors of adolescent breakfast consumption, content, and context. BMC Public Health. 2014;14:1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. O’Dea JA, Wagstaff S. Increased breakfast frequency and nutritional quality among school children after a national breakfast promotion campaign in Australia between 2000 and 2006. Health Educ Res. 2011;26:1086–96.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, MEC in-person dietary interviewers procedure manual. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/nhanes_09_10/DietaryInterviewers_Inperson.pdf. Published 2009. Accessed November 30, 2012.

  21. Conway JM, Ingwersen LA, Moshfegh AJ. Accuracy of dietary recall using the USDA five-step multiple-pass method in men: an observational validation study. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004;104:595–603.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  22. Ahluwalia N, Dwyer J, Terry A, Moshfegh A, Johnson C. Update on NHANES dietary data: focus on collection, release, analytical considerations, and uses to inform public policy. Adv Nutr. 2016;7:121–34.

    Article  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  23. Ahuja JK, Montville JB, Omolewa-Tomobi G, Heendeniya KY, Martin CL, Steinfeldt LC, et al. USDA food and nutrient database for dietary studies, 5.0. US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Food Surveys Research Group. 2012.

  24. Bowman SA, Clemens JC, Thoerig RC, Friday JE, Shimizu M, Moshfegh AJ. Food Patterns Equivalents Database 2009–10: Methodology and User Guide [Online]. Beltsville: Food Surveys Research Group, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center. Agricultural Research Service, US Department of Agriculture. 2013.

  25. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2013. What We Eat in America Food Categories 2009-2010. Available at: www.ars.usda.gov/nea/bhnrc/fsrg.

  26. Guenther PM, Casavale KO, Reedy J, Kirkpatrick SI, Hiza HA, Kuczynski KJ, Kahle LL, Krebs-Smith SM. Update of the Healthy Eating Index: HEI-2010. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2013;113:569–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Koegel KL, Kuczynski KJ. Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion addendum to the MyPyramid Equivalents Database 2.0 [Online]. USDA. 2011.

  28. Pedersen TP, Holstein BE, Flachs EM, Rasmussen M. Meal frequencies in early adolescence predict meal frequencies in late adolescence and early adulthood. BMC Public Health. 2013;13:1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Pereira MA, Erickson E, McKee P, Schrankler K, Raatz SK, Lytle LA, Pellegrini AD. Breakfast frequency and quality may affect glycemia and appetite in adults and children. J Nutr. 2011;141:163–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Jennings A, Cassidy A, Sluijs EM, Griffin SJ, Welch AA. Associations between eating frequency, adiposity, diet, and activity in 9–10 year old healthy‐weight and centrally obese children. Obesity. 2012;20:1462–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ramsay SA, Eskelsen AK, Branen LJ, ShultzJA,Plumb J. Nutrient intake and consumption of fruit and vegetables in young children. ICAN: Infant Child Adolescent Nutr. 2014;6:332–344.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

Funding

The Project was funded by an unrestricted grant from Abbott Nutrition.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Idaho, Mo, ID, USA

    Samantha A. Ramsay

  2. Scientific and Medical Affairs, Abbott Nutrition, Columbus, OH, USA

    Tama D. Bloch

  3. Regulatory Science and Innovation, Abbott Nutrition, Columbus, OH, USA

    Barbara Marriage

  4. Department of Nutrition, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, USA

    Lenka H. Shriver

  5. The Ohio State University Division of Health Sciences and Medical Dietetics, Columbus, OH, USA

    Colleen K. Spees & Christopher A. Taylor

Authors
  1. Samantha A. Ramsay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tama D. Bloch
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Barbara Marriage
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lenka H. Shriver
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Colleen K. Spees
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christopher A. Taylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher A. Taylor.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

In memory of Samantha A. Ramsay

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ramsay, S.A., Bloch, T.D., Marriage, B. et al. Skipping breakfast is associated with lower diet quality in young US children. Eur J Clin Nutr 72, 548–556 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0084-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0084-3

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links