The relationship between breakfast behaviour and Body Mass Index (BMI) – a randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Breakfast is a meal eaten in the morning and at the first of the day. Failure to eat a well-balanced diet in the morning has been documented to have a deleterious impact on the health such as nutritional disorders, non-communicable diseases and failure to cognitive performance. Ayurveda texts mentioned that consuming food in the morning enhance memory power, life span, energy, complexion, and lustre. The objective of the present study was to study the relationship between breakfast and BMI values. Fifty cases of male and female, between 20 and 60 years were randomly selected from OPD in Ayurveda Teaching Hospital, Borella, Sri Lanka. The relationship between breakfasts with BMI was evaluated. Socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender, religion, ethnicity, occupation, monthly income, residential area and education were gathered through a questionnaire. BMI was measured and that was compared with information related to breakfast as a morning drink, type of food consumption, skipping breakfast, veg food habits and time having breakfast. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS, version 17.0. Mean age of the study population was 42 years in which 58% were females. According to BMI values, 6% underweight, 42% normal weight and 52% were overweight respectively. When comparing breakfast habits with BMI categories, there was no significant relationship with milk as a morning drink, rice and curry as a morning diet, vegetarian food, skipping breakfast (p>0.05). Consumption of tea as a morning drink which was significantly related with BMI values (p=0.023) as well as taking refined wheat flour product as a morning diet, having breakfast at 6.00 am to 9.00 am were significantly related with BMI (p=0.017 and p=0.020, respectively). The study indicated that the drinking tea, consumption of refined wheat flour product and time of the taking breakfast were significantly related with BMI.