Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar;63(3):405-12.
doi: 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602950. Epub 2007 Nov 28.

Skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity as risk factors for overweight and obesity in adolescents: results of the E-MOVO project

S Croezen  1 , T L S Visscher, N C W Ter Bogt, M L Veling, A Haveman-Nies
Affiliations

Skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity as risk factors for overweight and obesity in adolescents: results of the E-MOVO project

S Croezen et al. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

Objective/background: To investigate the association between skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity with overweight and obesity in adolescents. The design comprises cross-sectional electronic health survey (E-MOVO).

Subjects/methods: Over 35 000 Dutch adolescents in grade 2 (13-14 years of age) and grade 4 (15-16 years of age) of secondary educational schools were recruited by seven community health services. Analyses were performed on 25 176 adolescents. Body mass index was calculated from self-reported body weight and height. Frequency of skipping breakfast per week, amount of alcoholic drinks consumed per occasion, and numbers of physical active days per week were considered as determinants for overweight and obesity.

Results: In grade 2, adjusted odds ratios for the association with overweight were 2.17 (95% CI: 1.66-2.85) for skipping breakfast, 1.86 (1.36-2.55) for alcohol consumption and 1.73 (1.19-2.51) for physical inactivity. Statistically significant associations with overweight were also found in grade 4. In grade 2, dose-response relations (P for trend <0.05) were present between all risk factors and overweight. In a multivariate model containing all risk factors, breakfast skipping showed the strongest relation with overweight (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.43-1.97 for grade 2, OR 1.32 95% CI 1.14-1.54 for grade 4) and obesity.

Conclusions: Skipping breakfast, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity were associated with overweight in second and fourth grade adolescents. The associations were strongest for younger adolescents. The most important risk factor for overweight and obesity was skipping breakfast.

PubMed Disclaimer