Breakfast skipping and its relation to BMI and health-compromising behaviours among Greek adolescents

Objective: The increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide is a major health concern. Our study, which is part of the First National Epidemiological Study of Obesity in Greece, aimed to assess (i) breakfast habits and their relationship to BMI in Greek adolescents, as well as (ii) breakfast skipping in relation to other health behaviours. Design: Epidemiological survey throughout Greece. Participants completed a questionnaire concerning breakfast habits and many lifestyle parameters. Setting: The survey was conducted in schools throughout Greece. Subjects: Anthropometric measurements were performed on 6500 boys and 7778 girls, aged 13-19 years, from schools throughout Greece. Results: Among both boys and girls, breakfast consumers had a lower BMI than breakfast skippers. Moreover, breakfast skippers among both boys and girls were found to smoke more than breakfast consumers. The proportion of boys and girls who ate breakfast was found to be greater among those who had never been on a diet than among those who had already experienced dieting. Leisure-time activity was greater in breakfast consumers than breakfast skippers; among boys, 71.8% of breakfast consumers walked compared with 66.4% of breakfast skippers, whereas 38.4% and 35.0%, respectively, exercised. Among girls, these percentages were 73.1% v. 68.7% for walking and 36.7% v. 31.5% for exercising. Conclusions: We found that breakfast skipping can be part of a constellation of several unhealthy lifestyle parameters and is related to higher BMI in Greek adolescents.