title: Prospective study of breakfast eating and incident coronary heart disease in a cohort of male US health professionals.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Among adults, skipping meals is associated with excess body weight, hypertension, insulin resistance, and elevated fasting lipid concentrations. However, it remains unknown whether specific eating habits regardless of dietary composition influence coronary heart disease (CHD) risk. The objective of this study was to prospectively examine eating habits and risk of CHD.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eating habits, including breakfast eating, were assessed in 1992 in 26 902 American men 45 to 82 years of age from the Health Professionals Follow-up Study who were free of cardiovascular disease and cancer. During 16 years of follow-up, 1527 incident CHD cases were diagnosed. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate relative risks and 95% confidence intervals for CHD, adjusted for demographic, diet, lifestyle, and other CHD risk factors. Men who skipped breakfast had a 27% higher risk of CHD compared with men who did not (relative risk, 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.53). Compared with men who did not eat late at night, those who ate late at night had a 55% higher CHD risk (relative risk, 1.55; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.29). These associations were mediated by body mass index, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes mellitus. No association was observed between eating frequency (times per day) and risk of CHD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eating breakfast was associated with significantly lower CHD risk in this cohort of male health professionals.
authors.affiliation: Harvard School of Public Health, 655 Huntington Ave, Bldg II, Room 349, Boston, MA 02115, USA. lcahill@hsph.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Leah E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Cahill
authors.forename: Stephanie E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Chiuve
authors.forename: Rania A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Mekary
authors.forename: Majken K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Alan J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Flint
authors.forename: Frank B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Eric B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Rimm
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D062408:Breakfast; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: coronary disease; epidemiology; myocardial infarction; nutritional sciences; prevention & control