Relationship of Breakfast Skipping and Nutritional Status among Senior Secondary School Adolescents of District Una, Himachal Pradesh (India)

Breakfast consumption of adolescents is an important public health concern as it is associated with positive outcomes for diet quality, micronutrient intake, BMI status and lifestyle factors. In the modern era, breakfast skipping in adolescents has been gradually rising in many developing countries, including India. Adolescents are becoming more and more conscious about their physique and look, and are using various methods to lose weight and look attractive. Skipping breakfast or consuming an inadequate breakfast contributes to dietary inadequacies that are seldom compensated for at other meals; it has been considered to affect a number of parameters like nutritional status, concentration, memory, academic performance and cognitive development. Objectives: Purpose of the study was to assess the relationship between breakfast skipping and nutritional status among the adolescents. Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried out on 591 school adolescents from 27 schools of Una district, Himachal Pradesh, selected by multistage sampling, with the help of self administered structured questionnaire from January to march, 2016. Results: Out of 591 adolescent students, 66.3 % were breakfast skippers. Majority, 59.1% adolescents had normal nutritional status, followed by 32.7% underweight and 8.3% overweight/ obesity. Breakfast skippers were found significantly more overweight/obese as compared to non skippers. Conclusions: Prevalence of breakfast skipping was found high among the overweight and obese adolescents .Therefore, it is imperative to suggest that School Health programmes need to evolve appropriate strategies to promote awareness regarding healthy dietary patterns among school adolescents and their parents.