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Breakfast habits, dairy product consumption, physical activity, and their associations with body mass index in children aged 6–18

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine breakfast habits, dairy product consumption, and physical activity and their relations with body mass index (BMI) in schoolchildren and adolescents. This cross-sectional, school-based study was performed with children aged 6–18 years. Height and weight were measured, and a BMI z-score was calculated for each child. Breakfast consumption frequency, intake of milk and other dairy products, physical activity habits, and mothers’ employment status were assessed via a self-report questionnaire. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to estimate the association between these habits and BMI z-scores. Seven thousand one hundred sixteen children were included, 3445 (48.4%) female, with a mean age of 11.7 ± 2.7 years (5.8–18.9). Of these, 62.6% had breakfast every day. Boys ate breakfast daily significantly more often than girls (64.5 and 60.7%, respectively; p < 0.001). The percentage of children eating breakfast daily decreased with age (79.1% at 6–11 vs. 52.1% at 12–18 years, p < 0.001). Sixty-four (0.9%) children consumed no dairy products. Milk intake was negatively and significantly associated with BMI z-score (β = − 0.103, p < 0.001). Cheese consumption and the mother being employed were positively and significantly associated with BMI z-score (β = 0.517, p < 0.001, and β = 0.172, p < 0.001, respectively). Children engaging in physical activity had higher BMI z-score values than others (0.22 ± 0.01 vs. 0.12 ± 0.02, p < 0.001). Prevalence of overweight/obese was higher among children of working mothers compared to those of unemployed mothers (respectively, 29.3, 23.3%, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Skipping breakfast was associated with overweight/obesity in schoolchildren and adolescents, while milk consumption exhibited a protective effect.

What is known?

• Dietary interventions should be incorporated into a multidisciplinary strategy for obesity prevention.

• Most studies of habitual physical activity in children suggest that the overweight and obese children are less active.

What is new?

• Milk consumption seems to have a protective effect against overweight/obesity, irrespective of yogurt or cheese consumption.

• Children engaging in greater physical activity had higher body mass index values than others.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

body mass index

FFQ:

food frequency questionnaire

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey

    Tugba Koca, Mustafa Akcam & Selim Dereci

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey

    Filiz Serdaroglu

Authors
  1. Tugba Koca
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  2. Mustafa Akcam
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  3. Filiz Serdaroglu
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  4. Selim Dereci
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Contributions

Tugba Koca conceived the study; collected, assembled and processed data; performed statistical analyses; performed literature search and wrote the manuscript. Mustafa Akcam conceived the study; provided expert professional opinion and input. Filiz Serdaroglu performed literature search and edited the report. Selim Dereci collected, assembled and processed data; edited the report.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mustafa Akcam.

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Financial source

No funding was secured for this study.

Financial disclosure

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants (their parents, and children (if ≥ 12 years)) prior to their inclusion in the study.

Additional information

Communicated by Mario Bianchetti

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Koca, T., Akcam, M., Serdaroglu, F. et al. Breakfast habits, dairy product consumption, physical activity, and their associations with body mass index in children aged 6–18. Eur J Pediatr 176, 1251–1257 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2976-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-017-2976-y

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