Higher BMI, lower quality of diet and a higher percentage of breakfast-skippers have been reported among rotating shift (RS) workers compared with day shift (DS) workers. As such, this study examined the association between breakfast skipping, habitual food consumption and BMI in RS workers.

Japanese nurses were studied using a self-administered questionnaire that assessed the height, weight, breakfast consumption habits, dietary consumption, physical activity, sleep habits, chronotype and demographic characteristics of the participants.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in a population of nurses in Japan. Dietary and health-related questionnaires were mailed to 5536 nurses aged 20–59 years, working at 346 institutions.

A total of 3646 nurses at 274 institutions responded to the questionnaire. After removing those who met the exclusion criteria, 2450 participants were included in the statistical analysis.

The RS breakfast-skippers had lower total energy intake, diet quality and higher BMI than DS workers, whereas the RS breakfast-consumers had a higher total energy intake and BMI than the DS workers. In the RS workers, breakfast skipping on the days of DS and the end days of evening/night shift was associated with a poorer diet quality. Additionally, breakfast skipping on the days of DS was positively associated with BMI, independent of the total energy intake and diet quality.

Breakfast skipping on workdays may contribute to a difference in dietary intake and BMI between RS workers and DS workers and may increase BMI in RS workers, independent of dietary intake.

Research on the consequences of breakfast skipping among students tends to focus on academic outcomes, rather than student well-being or engagement at school. This study investigated the association between breakfast skipping and cognitive and emotional aspects of school engagement.

Cross-sectional study using data from a population-level survey of children and adolescents’ well-being and engagement at school. Linear regression with adjustment for confounders was used to estimate the effect of breakfast skipping on school engagement.

Government schools (i.e. public schools) in South Australia.

The participants were students, Grades 4–12, who completed the Wellbeing and Engagement Collection in 2019. The analysis sample included 61 825 students.

Approximately 9·6 % of students reported always skipping breakfast, with 35·4 % sometimes skipping and 55·0 % never skipping. In the adjusted linear regression models, children and adolescents who always skipped breakfast reported lower levels of cognitive engagement (β = −0·26 (95 % CI −0·29, −0·25)), engagement with teachers (β = −0·17 (95 % CI −0·18, −0·15)) and school climate (β = −0·17 (95 % CI −0·19, −0·15)) compared with those who never skipped breakfast, after controlling for age, gender, health, sleep, sadness and worries, parental education, socio-economic status and geographical remoteness.

Consistent with our hypothesis, skipping breakfast was associated with lower cognitive and emotional engagement, which could be due to mechanisms such as short-term energy supply and long-term health impacts. Therefore, decreasing the prevalence of breakfast skipping could have a positive impact on school engagement.

Regular breakfast skipping is related to unhealthy dietary behaviours, such as consuming an overall poorer quality diet and lower rates of physical activity, both of which are linked to a higher BMI. Adolescent breakfast skippers struggle with mental focus, sleep issues and lower grades. Solutions that can be implemented to overcome breakfast skipping are needed.

A systematic literature review was undertaken to identify programmes that aimed to increase breakfast eating. Following the PRISMA framework, studies were sourced to examine details of behaviour change, evidence of theory use and other important programme learnings and outcomes.

Breakfast consumption empirical studies published from 2000 onwards.

Nineteen empirical studies that aimed to improve breakfast eating behaviour.

Out of the nineteen studies examined, ten studies reported an increase in breakfast consumption frequency for the entire study group or subgroups. Seven studies found no change, one was inconclusive and one observed a decrease in breakfast frequency. Positive changes to the dietary quality of breakfast were observed in five of the studies that did not observe increased frequency of breakfast consumption. Only six studies reported using theory in the intervention.

This evidence review points needed to extend theory application to establish a reliable evidence base that can be followed by practitioners seeking to increase breakfast eating rates in their target population.

Breakfast skipping is regarded as a public health issue among adults worldwide. Nutrition knowledge has been reported to be one of predictors of dietary behaviour. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the association between nutrition knowledge and breakfast skipping.

Data regarding nutrition knowledge were obtained by using a validated, self-administered general nutrition knowledge questionnaire for Japanese adults (JGNKQ). Participants were classified into three nutrition knowledge level groups according to total JGNKQ score: Low, Middle and High. In addition, participants reported the frequency of meal consumption per week and rated the difficulty in finding time to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner in the lifestyle questionnaire. The differences in frequency of breakfast, lunch and dinner consumption among Low, Middle and High nutrition knowledge groups were determined by using ANCOVA adjusted for potential confounding factors.

Kanto region, Japan.

Japanese adults aged 18–64 years (n 1165, 57·3% women).

Mean age of the participants was 43·8 (sd 8·9) years. There were no significant differences found in the proportion of respondents reporting difficulty in finding time to eat each meal among the three groups. However, the frequency of breakfast consumption was significantly different among Low, Middle and High groups, while lunch and dinner frequency did not differ among the three groups.

The present study suggests that nutrition knowledge level is related to breakfast skipping among Japanese adults.

Breakfast skipping has been reported to be associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D), but the results are inconsistent. No meta-analyses have applied quantitative techniques to compute summary risk estimates. The present study aimed to conduct a meta-analysis of observational studies summarizing the evidence on the association between breakfast skipping and the risk of T2D.

Systematic review and meta-analysis.

Relevant studies were identified by a search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and SINOMED up to 9 August 2014. We also reviewed reference lists from retrieved articles. We included studies that reported risk estimates (including relative risks, odds ratios and hazard ratios) with 95 % confidence intervals for the association between breakfast skipping and the risk of T2D.

Eight studies involving 106 935 participants and 7419 patients with T2D were included in the meta-analysis.

A pooled adjusted relative risk for the association between exposure to breakfast skipping and T2D risk was 1·21 (95 % CI 1·12, 1·31; P=0·984; I2=0·0 %) in cohort studies and the pooled OR was 1·15 (95 % CI, 1·05, 1·24; P=0·770; I2=0·0 %) in cross-sectional studies. Visual inspection of a funnel plot and Begg’s test indicated no evidence of publication bias.

Breakfast skipping is associated with a significantly increased risk of T2D. Regular breakfast consumption is potentially important for the prevention of T2D.

To examine the association between breakfast skipping and physical activity among US adolescents aged 12–19 years.

A cross-sectional study of nationally representative 2007–2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data.

Breakfast skipping was assessed by two 24 h dietary recalls. Physical activity was self-reported by participants and classified based on meeting national recommendations for physical activity for the appropriate age group. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to model the association between breakfast skipping and physical activity while controlling for confounders.

A total of 936 adolescents aged 12–19 years in the USA.

After adjusting for family income, there was no association between breakfast skipping and meeting physical activity guidelines for age among adolescents aged 12–19 years (OR = 0·95, 95 % CI 0·56, 1·32).

Findings from the study differ from previous research findings on breakfast skipping and physical activity. Therefore, further research that uses large, nationally representative US samples and national recommended guidelines for physical activity is needed.

Breakfast has been linked to several aspects of health, yet breakfast skipping is rampant across the globe. Studies in India have focused mostly on children. Hence the present study examined breakfast behaviour across different age and gender groups.

Cross-sectional sample, purposive sampling. Nutrient intakes of the participants derived from 24 h dietary recall and 3 d breakfast record data were compared with RDA values prescribed by the Indian Council of Medical Research using Student's t test, with P < 0·05 taken to indicate significance.

Mumbai, India.

Participants (n 1027) aged 8 years and above.

Nutritional adequacy of the breakfast meal and that of the day's diet were the main outcome measures. Eighty-one per cent of the participants had a nutritionally inadequate breakfast. Intakes of Fe and dietary fibre were notably low. Consumption of just milk or milk plus a milk food-based drink among schoolchildren (49 %) and increased breakfast skipping among adolescents (37 %) were seen.

The study identifies both irregularities and/or nutritional inadequacies with respect to the breakfast meal. Age- and gender-specific challenges in breakfast behaviour need to be addressed. Development of ‘nutrient-dense’ breakfast foods that can be prepared easily, school breakfast programmes and education on the importance of breakfast are the needs of the hour.

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.

Epidemiological survey throughout Greece. Participants completed a questionnaire concerning breakfast habits and many lifestyle parameters.

The survey was conducted in schools throughout Greece.

Anthropometric measurements were performed on 6500 boys and 7778 girls, aged 13–19 years, from schools throughout Greece.

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.

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.

To ascertain the breakfast habits of 10–15-year-old schoolchildren and to assess the quality of this meal as well as its relationship to the food consumption pattern for the full day.

Cross-sectional survey.

Eight hundred and two schoolchildren, boys and girls, aged 10–15 years, belonging to different urban schools located in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.

The breakfast eating patterns of the children were studied and their impact on growth was assessed, using dietary recalls and anthropometric measurements.

Only 42.8% of the children ate breakfast regularly. Over half of the children skipped breakfast, ranging from daily to once in two weeks. The energy and protein composition of breakfasts eaten by the children indicated that those who did not skip breakfast met one-quarter to one-third of their total daily energy and protein requirements. Mean nutrient intakes calculated from 24-hour recalls revealed that the children's diets were inadequate compared with the recommended values for energy and protein. The inadequate energy intake was reflected in a high incidence of malnutrition in both boys and girls; 40.3% of the boys and 32.1% of the girls studied were found to be underweight. Protein intake was also inadequate among boys and girls, although a higher percentage of children met their protein requirements.

Over half of the schoolchildren studied skipped breakfast frequently, the main reason being getting up late. Children who consumed breakfast had higher daily intakes of energy and protein than children who skipped breakfast. These data confirm the importance of breakfast to overall dietary quality and adequacy in school-aged children.