Fast Food Consumption and Breakfast Skipping: Predictors of Weight Gain from Adolescence to Adulthood in a Nationally Representative Sample

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.07.001

Journal of Adolescent Health

Volume 39, Issue 6, December 2006, Pages 842-849

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.07.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

Purpose

To investigate whether fast food consumption and breakfast skipping are associated with weight gain during the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Methods

A prospective study of 9919 adolescents participating in Waves II (age range 11–21 years) and III (age range 18–27 years) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. BMI z scores (zBMI) were computed using the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention growth charts. Multivariate regression models assessed the relationship between Wave II fast food and breakfast consumption and change in fast food and breakfast consumption between Waves II and III and weight gain during the transition to adulthood.

Results

Marked increases in fast food consumption and decreases in breakfast consumption occurred over the 5-year interval. Greater days of fast food consumption at Wave II predicted increased zBMI at Wave III. Fewer days of breakfast consumption at Wave II and decreases in breakfast consumption between Waves II and III predicted increased zBMI at Wave III.

Conclusions

Fast food consumption and breakfast skipping increased during the transition to adulthood, and both dietary behaviors are associated with increased weight gain from adolescence to adulthood. These behaviors may be appropriate targets for intervention during this important transition.

Section snippets

Sample

Data from this study were drawn from Add Health, a longitudinal, nationally representative, school-based study of over 20,000 adolescents in grades 7–12 in the United States. Data were collected and informed consent was obtained under protocols reviewed by the Institutional Review Board of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The current study used data from the weighted in-home samples collected at Wave II (April 1996–August 1996) and Wave III (August 2001–April 2002). Wave II

Demographics

Demographic characteristics of the participants (n = 9919) in the investigation are presented in Table 1. At Wave II, there were 7084 (71.3%) adolescents classified as normal weight and 2835 (28.7%) classified as overweight according to IOTF cut points for age and gender [28]. The participants were predominantly white (66.1%) and had at least one parent with some college education (63.6%). The racial distribution for overweight participants differed significantly from that of normal weight

Discussion

This study, using data from a nationally representative sample, is the first to show increases in fast food consumption and breakfast skipping during the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Importantly, greater fast food consumption and breakfast skipping during adolescence and increases in breakfast skipping from adolescence to early adulthood were associated with increased weight gain during this transition. Results indicate that participants consumed fast food about 2 days per week as

Acknowledgment

This research uses data from the Add Health project, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry (PI) and Peter Bearman, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Persons interested in obtaining data files from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population

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Original articleFast Food Consumption and Breakfast Skipping: Predictors of Weight Gain from Adolescence to Adulthood in a Nationally Representative Sample

Abstract

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Section snippets

Sample

Demographics

Discussion

Acknowledgment

Am J Clin Nutr

J Am Diet Assoc

Prev Med

J Adolesc Health

J Am Diet Assoc

J Adolesc Health

J Am Diet Assoc

Am J Clin Nutr

Am J Clin Nutr

Lancet

Overweight prevalence and trends for children and adolescents

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med

Prevalence and trends in obesity among US adults, 1999–2000

JAMA

Prevalence and trends in overweight among US children and adolescents, 1999–2000

JAMA

Long-term morbidity and mortality of overweight adolescents: a follow-up of the Harvard Growth Study

N Engl J Med

Social influences on the development of cardiovascular risk during childhood and adolescence

Effects of fast-food consumption on energy intake and diet quality among children in a national household survey

Pediatrics

Fast food restaurant use among adolescents: associations with nutrient intake, food choices and behavioral and psychosocial variables

Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

Food away from home, sugar-sweetened drink consumption and juvenile obesity

J Am Coll Nutr

Food purchased away from home as a predictor of change in BMI z-score among girls

Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

Longitudinal study of skipping breakfast and weight change in adolescents

Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord

Original article
Fast Food Consumption and Breakfast Skipping: Predictors of Weight Gain from Adolescence to Adulthood in a Nationally Representative Sample