Written by Chrystal Moulton, Staff Writer. Men who did not eat breakfast had a 33% higher risk of coronary heart disease.
You wake up in the morning just in time to brush, put on your clothes, and run out the door. Sounds familiar? But, aren’t you forgetting something? That’s right…breakfast. Well for most of us, “the most important meal of the day” is also the most forgettable one. However, in a recent study, researchers wanted to find out just how important is “the most important meal of the day.”
The Health Professionals Follow-up Study is a study surveying the eating habits of 51,529 mostly white men aged 40-75 years old who are/were in the health field. Enrollment in the study began in 1986 and the study period ended in 2008. During that time, each participant was given a questionnaire every two years to determine medical history, lifestyle, and health-related behaviors such as snacking, skipping meals, and frequency of eating. In 1992, researchers were able to establish and assess baseline] values for the volunteers. Men were excluded from the final analysis if they died between 1986 and 1992, didn’t complete the dietary assessment questionnaire, didn’t answer the eating habits question, had cancer or a history of cancer, coronary heart disease (CHD) or a history of coronary heart disease (CHD), chest pain, or stroke. The final sample used for the analysis was 26,902 men. On each biennial questionnaire, men were asked if they experienced a heart attack, which researchers later confirmed by searching their medical records. Death by CHD was confirmed using autopsy records. Dietary questionnaire was sent every 4 years to determine total nutrient intake, frequency of eating, skipping of meals, and overall diet quality. Calculations were done using relative risk with p values set at 0.05.
Out of the final sample, 3,386 men skipped breakfast; and between return of the 1992 questionnaire and January 31, 2008, there were 1527 cardiac incidences. After adjusting for age, they found that men who did not eat breakfast had a 33% higher risk of CHD than men who did (RR=1.33, p=0.05). Even after adjusting for diet factors, activity level, and demographic factors such as marital status and smoking along with age, relative risk of CHD remained around 30% (Age+ Diet Factors RR= 1.38, p=0.0006, Age+ Diet Factors+ Demographics RR = 1.29, p=0.007, Age+ Diet Factors+ Demographics+ Activity level RR = 1.27, p=0.01). Men who ate late at night had a 55% higher risk of CHD than men who did not. After removing men with BMI≥ 30 from the calculation, the risk of CHD for late night eaters was still 58%. When pre-existing conditions were accounted for, the association between CHD risk and late night eating was 41%. Participants who generally skipped breakfast tended to be younger, smokers, full-time workers, unmarried, physically less active, and consumed more alcohol than those who did not skip breakfast. Among the sample, men ≤ 60 years old who skipped breakfast had about a 50% higher risk of CHD (1.55, p=0.05). No significant association was observed for frequency of eating and CHD risk.
From the researchers’ perspective, this is the first study to examine the association between skipping breakfast with CHD risk. It is clear, however, that skipping breakfast can increase the risk for CHD in men 40-75 years old. More studies will be needed to understand why and how these results translate to other portions of the population.
Source: Cahill, Leah E., Stephanie E. Chiuve, and R. A. Mekary. “Prospective study of breakfast eating and incident coronary heart disease in a cohort of male US health professionals.” Journal of Vascular Surgery 59, no. 2 (2014): 555.
© 2013 American Heart Association, Inc
Posted September 26, 2013.
Chrystal Moulton BA, PMP, is a 2008 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology with a focus on premedical studies and is a licensed project manager. She currently resides in Indianapolis, IN.
Reference:
- Prospective study of breakfast eating and incident coronary heart disease in a cohort of male US health professionals. Cahill LE, Chiuve SE, Mekary RA, et al. Circulation. 2013 Jul 23;128(4):337-43.
