Study examines which schoolchildren are most likely to skip breakfast

Skipping breakfast was common in an observational study of schoolchildren in Greece, and children who skipped breakfast tended to have an unhealthy lifestyle profile. The Nutrition & Dietetics findings may be useful for developing policies designed to increase breakfast consumption in children.

In the study of 177,091 Greek children aged eight to 17 years old, almost one in four schoolchildren (22.4 percent of boys and 23.1 percent of girls) skipped breakfast. Characteristics associated with skipping breakfast were being female, being older, being overweight/obese, having a poorer diet, getting inadequate physical activity, having insufficient sleep, and having increased screen time.

After adjustments for several confounding factors, poor dietary habits, insufficient sleep (less than eight hours), and increased screen time (more than two hours) increased the odds for skipping breakfast by 80 percent, 23 percent, and 22.5 percent, respectively.