Abstract
It has been hypothesized that breakfast consumption is generally associated with healthy lifestyle behaviors, such as increased physical activity. The aim of this study was to examine the relations between breakfast consumption, adiposity measures and physical activity among adolescents. This investigation is a part of the Croatian physical activity in adolescence longitudinal study (CRO-PALS). This investigation is based on 802 participants (48% girls and 52% boys), aged between 15.2 and 16.0 years. Physical activity level and sedentary behaviors were assessed using the SHAPES questionnaire. Adiposity measures included the sum of four skinfolds, and multi-pass 24-h recall was used as the dietary assessment method. Participants who consumed breakfast had significantly lower body fat % (p = 0.011 for boys; p ≤ 0.001 for girls) compared to breakfast non-consumers. Physical activity has no mediating effect in the association of breakfast consumption on adiposity in boys (Sobel’s t = −0.541; p = 0.588) and girls (Sobel’s t = 1.020; p = 0.307). Breakfast consumption was negatively associated with adiposity only in the boys at the highest tertile of physical activity (p = 0.04). Physical activity has no mediating effect on the associations between breakfast consumption and adiposity, but has a moderation effect only in the most active boys. Breakfast consumption might exert beneficial effects only in the most active male adolescents, but not in the inactive ones.
Highlights
Obesity in children and adolescents is one of the greatest public health concerns of the twenty-first century [1]
This study found no association between breakfast consumption and physical activity in our sample, which was confirmed by a formal mediation model
One of the hypotheses is that breakfast consumption is important for the regulation of energy intake, and skipping breakfast could result in higher energy intake at other meals compared with when breakfast is consumed [18]
Summary
Obesity in children and adolescents is one of the greatest public health concerns of the twenty-first century [1]. It was found that between 25% and 58% of adolescent who are overweight will become overweight adults, and between 24% and 90% of obese adolescents will become obese adults [2], which shows that primary prevention is of utmost importance Eating patterns such as eating frequency and distribution of eating occasions throughout the day have received considerable attention for their potential role in obesity prevention [3], with breakfast consumption remaining most commonly reported as the diet factor involved in obesity development [4]. It has been noticed previously that typically, adolescents who consume breakfast have a lower BMI despite having higher energy intake [5]. These findings suggest that breakfast consumption is probably associated with higher energy expenditure, rather than restricted consumption [6]. Several cross-sectional studies have reported positive associations between breakfast consumption and physical activity and physical fitness, but only a small number of the studies are controlled for energy expenditure [4]
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