Breakfast consumption and mental health: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.

Hoda Zahedi, Shirin Djalalinia, Omid Sadeghi, Fateme Zare Garizi, Hamid Asayesh, Moloud Payab, Maryam Zarei, Mostafa Qorbani

Journal: Nutritional neuroscience 2022;25(6):1250-1264

PMID: 33314992

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE

Several studies have been conducted on the relationship between breakfast consumption and mental health with conflicting results. Therefore, the present systematic review and meta-analysis was undertaken to summarize evidences on the association between skipping breakfast and mental health.

METHODS

We searched online databases for all related papers through the comprehensive international data bases of Institute of PubMed/ MEDLINE, ISI/WOS and Scopus up to December 2019, using relevant keywords. Overall, 14 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis.

RESULTS

The total sample size of all selected studies was 399,550 individuals with age range of 6 to ≥65 years old. We found a significant positive association between skipping breakfast and Odds Ratio (OR) of depression (pooled OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.34-1.44), stress (pooled OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.04-1.43) and psychological distress (pooled OR: 1.55; 95% CI: 1.47-1.62). In contrast, there was no significant association between skipping breakfast and anxiety in all age cohort (pooled OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 0.97-1.65). However, subgroup analysis based on age stratification showed that there was a significant positive association between skipping breakfast and anxiety in adolescences (pooled OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.25-1.77).

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, skipping breakfast was positively associated with odds of depression, stress and psychological distress in all age groups and anxiety in adolescence, underlining impact of breakfast on mental health.

Address: Hematopoietic Stem Cell Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Development of Research & Technology Center, Deputy of Research and Technology, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran.; Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutritional Sciences and Dietetics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Students' Scientific Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Student Research Committee, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.; Department of Medical Emergencies, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.; Metabolomics and Genomics Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Molecular-Cellular Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.; Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Malaysia.; Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Karaj, Iran.; Chronic Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

DOI: 10.1080/1028415X.2020.1853411

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MeSH Terms: Adolescent, Anxiety, Breakfast, Child, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Mental Health, Odds Ratio