Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background
Increasing school breakfast participation has been advocated as a method to prevent childhood obesity. However, little is known about children's breakfast patterns outside of school (e.g., home, corner store). Policies that increase school breakfast participation without an understanding of children's breakfast habits outside of school may result in children consuming multiple breakfasts and may undermine efforts to prevent obesity. The aim of the current study was to describe morning food and drink consumption patterns among low-income, urban children and their associations with relative weight.Methods
A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of data obtained from 651 4th-6th graders (51.7% female, 61.2% African American, 10.7 years) in 2012. Students completed surveys at school that included all foods eaten and their locations that morning. Height and weight were measured by trained research staff.Results
On the day surveyed, 12.4% of youth reported not eating breakfast, 49.8% reported eating one breakfast, 25.5% reported eating two breakfasts, and 12.3% reported eating three or more breakfasts. The number of breakfasts consumed and BMI percentile showed a significant curvilinear relationship, with higher mean BMI percentiles observed among children who did not consume any breakfast and those who consumed ≥ 3 breakfasts. Sixth graders were significantly less likely to have consumed breakfast compared to younger children. A greater proportion of obese youth had no breakfast (18.0%) compared to healthy weight (10.1%) and overweight youth (10.7%, p = .01).Conclusions
When promoting school breakfast, policies will need to be mindful of both over- and under-consumption to effectively address childhood obesity and food insecurity.Clinical trial registration
NCT01924130 from http://clinicaltrials.gov/.
SUBMITTER: Lawman HG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4070352 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Lawman Hannah G HG Polonsky Heather M HM Vander Veur Stephanie S SS Abel Michelle L ML Sherman Sandy S Bauer Katherine W KW Sanders Tim T Fisher Jennifer O JO Bailey-Davis Lisa L Ng Janet J Van Wye Gretchen G Foster Gary D GD
BMC public health 20140614
<h4>Background</h4>Increasing school breakfast participation has been advocated as a method to prevent childhood obesity. However, little is known about children's breakfast patterns outside of school (e.g., home, corner store). Policies that increase school breakfast participation without an understanding of children's breakfast habits outside of school may result in children consuming multiple breakfasts and may undermine efforts to prevent obesity. The aim of the current study was to describe ...[more]