Breakfast and Other Meal Consumption in Adolescents from Southern Poland

Agnieszka Ostachowska-Gasior, Monika Piwowar, Jacek Kwiatkowski, Janusz Kasperczyk and Agata Skop-Lewandowska
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Agnieszka Ostachowska-Gasior: Department of Hygiene and Dietetics, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 7 Kopernika St., Krakow 31-034, Poland
Monika Piwowar: Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 16 Lazarza St., Krakow 31-034, Poland
Jacek Kwiatkowski: Department of Hygiene and Dietetics, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 7 Kopernika St., Krakow 31-034, Poland
Janusz Kasperczyk: School of Medicine with the Division of Dentistry in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 19 Jordana St., Zabrze 41-808, Poland
Agata Skop-Lewandowska: Department of Hygiene and Dietetics, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, 7 Kopernika St., Krakow 31-034, Poland

IJERPH, 2016, vol. 13, issue 5, 1-10

Abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of breakfast and other meal consumption by adolescents and to assess the relationship between the first and the last meal consumption and sex, body mass index (BMI), and middle school and high school students’ education level. The study was conducted in 2013–2014 among 3009 students (1658 girls and 1351 boys) from middle s and high schools in Krakow and Silesia (Poland). The data was obtained from questionnaires that were analyzed with a logistic regression model for measurable and dichotomous variables. Breakfast consumers were seen to eat other meals (second breakfast, lunch, dessert, supper) significantly more often than breakfast skippers. The main meal consumption habits depend on sex and change as adolescents age. Being a girl and a high school student predisposed participants to skip breakfast and supper more often. The BMI of breakfast consumers does not differ significantly from the BMI of breakfast skippers, so BMI might thus not be a sufficient marker of breakfast consumption regularity and dietary habits in an adolescent group. The importance of regularly eaten meals, especially breakfast, together with adequate daily dietary energy intake are beneficial for physical and psychological development and cannot be overestimated in nutritional education and it is necessary to promote healthy eating behavior for well-being in later adult life.

Keywords: adolescents; eating behavior; breakfast skipping; meal consumption habits (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:13:y:2016:i:5:p:453-:d:69158

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