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Second breakfast at school yields healthier weight range than no breakfast
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A healthy weight trajectory was more likely in children who regularly consumed breakfast at school — even among those who ate an additional morning meal at home — than among those who skipped breakfast, study data indicate.
According to the researchers, these findings dispel worries that a second breakfast increases the risk for excessive weight gain.
Jeannette R. Ickovics
“Our study does not support those concerns,” Jeannette R. Ickovics, PhD, professor of epidemiology and public health and psychology at Yale University, said in a press release. “Providing a health breakfast to students at school helps alleviate food insecurity and is associated with students maintaining a healthy weight.”
Ickovics and colleagues evaluated 584 middle school students from 12 schools in an urban school district where breakfast and lunch were provided to all students at no cost. Researchers sought to determine breakfast location patterns and to evaluate the link between breakfast patterns and weight status over time. All participants were followed from fifth (Fall 2011) to seventh grade (Fall 2013).
Six patterns of eating were identified: frequent skippers, inconsistent school eaters, inconsistent home eaters, regular home eaters, regular school eaters and double breakfast eaters. Regular home eaters were the most prevalent at baseline (43.7%), followed by inconsistent eaters (home or school combined; 22.6%).
Relative to the double breakfast group, girls were more likely than boys to belong in the frequent skippers (adjusted OR = 3; 95% CI, 1.79-5.02), inconsistent school eaters (adjusted OR = 1.4; 95% CI, 0.81-2.42), inconsistent home eaters (adjusted OR = 3.03; 95% CI, 1.84-5.01), regular home eaters (adjusted OR = 1.98; 95% CI, 1.3-3.03) and regular school eaters (adjusted OR = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.03-2.8) groups.
Compared with double breakfast eaters, the odds of being overweight or obese were greater for the frequent skippers (adjusted OR = 2.66; 95% CI, 1.67-4.24), inconsistent school eaters (adjusted OR = 2.11; 95% CI, 1.29-3.46), inconsistent home eaters (adjusted OR = 2.02; 95% CI, 1.27-3.21) and regular home eaters (adjusted OR = 1.7; 95% CI, 1.13-2.56).
No evidence was found in the double breakfast group for greater weight gain over time compared with the other groups.
“There has been concern about the impacts of promoting school breakfast, as it can lead to double breakfast consumption and potential risk of obesity,” the researchers wrote. “We found no evidence that this group of students had higher weight status compared with other groups. Given nearly 4 million households are unable to provide adequate and nutritious food for their children at time during the year, maximizing access to school breakfast is an important strategy to reduce the risk of child hunger.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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