title: Socioeconomic status and dietary habits as predictors of home breakfast skipping in young women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Breakfast skipping is prevalent among adolescents and young women, and deprives the body of important nutrients. This study was conducted to assess the correlation between breakfast eating and sociodemographic and lifestyle criteria.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was carried out on a convenient sample of 400 female students selected from the female sector of King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Home breakfast habit and other lifestyle characteristics were studied using a standardized questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to examine the relationship between home breakfast habit and different predictors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Home breakfast skippers constituted 71.75% of the whole sample. Breakfast eaters had a significantly higher BMI compared with breakfast skippers (22.66±4.88 vs. 21.58±4.09 in home breakfast skippers; P=0.025). Irrespective of other sociodemographic and lifestyle variables, fathers' education lower than university level negatively predicted home breakfast eating [Exp B=0.40, confidence interval (CI)=0.21-0.77], and being employed positively predicted breakfast eating (Exp B=2.31, CI=1.04-5.15). Likewise, consuming less amount of junk food and fewer soft drinks (Exp B=2.57, CI=1.54-4.28, and Exp B=2.59, CI=1.39-4.81, respectively) and consuming more milk and dairy products (Exp B=1.91, CI=1.16-3.15) correlated positively with home breakfast eating.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breakfast skipping was prevalent among adolescents and young women in the studied sample. Unhealthy dietary habits, father's education lower than university level, and father being unemployed positively predicted breakfast skipping of daughters at home. This implies that breakfast eating can be encouraged by approaching parents in addition to their daughters.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Rania Abd
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: El Hamid Hussein
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D062408:Breakfast / Q000523:psychology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult