title: Meal-Skipping Behaviors and Body Fat in 6-Year-Old Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the prospective associations of breakfast, lunch, and dinner skipping at age 4 years with body fat (ie, percent fat mass, body mass index [BMI], and weight status) at age 6 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were analyzed from 5913 children participating in the Generation R Study, a population-based prospective cohort study in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Meal-skipping behaviors were assessed through parent-report questionnaires. Children's weight and height were objectively measured and converted to BMI SDSs. Weight status (ie, overweight or normal weight) was defined according to age- and sex-specific cutoff points. At age 6 years, percent fat mass was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Linear and logistic regression analyses were performed, adjusting for covariates and BMI at age 4 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Breakfast skipping at age 4 years was associated with a higher percent fat mass at age 6 years (β = 1.38; 95% CI, 0.36-2.40). No associations were found with BMI or weight status. Furthermore, no associations were found between lunch and dinner skipping at age 4 years and body fat at age 6 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Breakfast skipping at age 4 years is associated with a higher percent fat mass at age 6 years. Further prospective studies, including intervention studies, are warranted to extend the evidence base on the directionality and causality of this association.
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: a.wijtzes@erasmusmc.nl.
authors.forename: Anne I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Wijtzes
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Social Development, City of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Selma H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Bouthoorn
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: van Lenthe
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Oscar H
authors.initials: OH
authors.lastname: Franco
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.affiliation: Generation R Study Group, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Pediatrics, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Vincent W V
authors.initials: VWV
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raat
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D062407:Meals; D011446:Prospective Studies