OBJECTIVE: this study aimed to evaluate the association of breakfast intake with cardiometabolic risk factors in a nationally-representative sample of Iranian pediatrics. METHODS: the study participants considered of 5,625 school students aged 10-18 years, studied in the third survey of the national school-based surveillance system (CASPIAN-III). They were classified into three groups based on the number of days they ate breakfast: "regular breakfast eater" (6-7days/week), "often breakfast eater" (3-5days/week), and "seldom breakfast eater" (0-2 days/week). Metabolic syndrome (MetS) was defined based on the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria modified for the pediatric age group. Moreover, high total cholesterol, high low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and generalized obesity were included as other cardiometabolic risk factors. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the association between the breakfast intake category and cardiometabolic risk factors. RESULTS: the number of subjects classified as "regular", "often" and "seldom" breakfast eaters were 2,653(47.3%), 1,327(23.7%) and 1,624(29.0%), respectively. The average of triglycerides (TG), LDL-C, systolic blood pressure (SBP) and body mass index (BMI) were higher in the "seldom breakfast eater" group (P for trend<0.001), whereas the mean of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was lower in this group than their other counterparts. Seldom breakfast eaters had an increased risk of obesity, elevated TG and LDL-C, as well as low HDL-C compared to"regular breakfast eaters". The risk of MetS was significantly increased in subjects who seldom ate breakfast (OR 1.96, 95% CI 1.18-3.27). CONCLUSIONS: skipping breakfast is associated with increased risk of MetS and other cardiometabooic factors in children and adolescents. Promoting the benefit of eating breakfast could be a simple and important implication to prevent these risk factors.
Breakfast consumption; Metabolic syndrome; Cardiovascular risk factors
