Breakfast skipping is associated with differences in meal patterns, macronutrient intakes and overweight among pre-school children.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between skipping breakfast, daily energy, macronutrients and food intakes, and BMI in pre-school children.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study using information on children's food consumption and measured height and weight. Energy and macronutrient intakes of the children were derived from parent/day-care attendant's responses to 24 h recall interviews and eating behaviour questionnaires.


METHODS
Data obtained from a representative sample (n 2,103) of children born in Quebec (Canada) in 1998.


METHODS
One thousand five hundred and forty-nine children, with a mean age of 49 (sd 3.12) months.


RESULTS
Ten per cent of children ate breakfast on fewer than 7 days per week. This behaviour was associated with a lower diet quality and concentrated energy intakes through higher protein intakes at lunch and the consumption of snacks higher in energy and carbohydrate in the afternoon and evening; yet total daily energy intakes were not significantly different from those of pre-school children who ate breakfast every day. Breakfast skippers' mean BMI increased as intake of energy, carbohydrates or servings of grain products increased; however, this was not the case for breakfast eaters. When Cole's cut-off for overweight/obesity was used, overweight/obesity in breakfast skippers was related to the dinner-time consumption of approximately 3,000 kJ (700 kcal) or more for energy intake, approximately 100 g or more of carbohydrates, or approximately 3 servings or more of grain products.


CONCLUSIONS
Eating breakfast every day is associated with having a healthy body weight, likely due to a more even distribution of energy intake across meals throughout the day.
Dubois
Lise
L
Institute of Population Health, University of Ottawa, 1 Stewart Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 6N5. lise.dubois@uottawa.ca
Girard
Manon
M
Potvin Kent
Monique
M
Farmer
Anna
A
Tatone-Tokuda
Fabiola
F
D015992:Body Mass Index; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004435:Eating; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000209:etiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000209:etiology*