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Published on: November 1, 2019
Relationship between Breakfast Skipping and Obesity among Elderly: Cross-Sectional Analysis of the HEIJO-KYO Study
1Keigo Saeki, MD, PhD, 840 Shijocho, Kashiharashi, Nara, 634-8521, Japan, Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Nara Medical University School of Medicine, Nara, Japan, E-mail: saekik@naramed-u.ac.jp, Phone: +81-744-22-3051, Fax: +81-744-25-7657.
Objective:
Breakfast skipping is reported to be associated with obesity in children and younger populations; however, few studies report the association among elderly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between breakfast skipping and obesity prevalence among elderly.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Setting:
Community-dwelling elderly in Nara, Japan.
Participants:
1052 elderly participants (mean age: 71.6 years).
Measurements:
Obesity and breakfast skipping were defined as body mass index of ≥25 kg/m2 and skipping breakfast one or more times per week, respectively.
Results:
Two hundred and seventy-two participants (25.9%) were classified as obese and forty-one (3.9%) were as breakfast skippers. Obesity prevalence was significantly higher in breakfast skippers than in breakfast eaters (43.9% vs. 25.1%, P = 0.007). In multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusted for potential confounders (age, sex and alcohol consumption), breakfast skippers showed significantly higher odds ratio (OR) for obesity than breakfast eaters (OR, 2.23; 95% confidence interval, 1.17-4.27; P = 0.015), which continued to be significant after further adjustment for socioeconomic status. In addition, breakfast skippers showed significantly lower daily potassium (P <0.001) and dietary fibre intakes (P = 0.001) and lower subjective physical activity (P = 0.035) than breakfast eaters.
Conclusions:
Breakfast skipping was significantly associated with obesity among elderly. Poor diet quality and physical inactivity may be potential intermediators underlying the association between breakfast skipping and obesity.
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