Association Between Breakfast Nutrient Density, Subsequent Meal Quality, and Overall Diet Quality in Iranian Adults: A Cross-Sectional Study Publisher Pubmed



Norouziasl R¹ ; Ghaemi S¹ ; Ganjeh BJ¹ ; Bafkar N¹ ; Shabbidar S^{1, 2, 3} Show Affiliations
Source: Scientific Reports Published:2025

Abstract

There’s more to a healthy diet than merely getting the desirable calories. At the present cross-sectional study, dietary consumption was measured using 24-hour dietary recall method. Nutrient density was evaluated using the NRF 9.3 index, which is based on nine recommended nutrients and three nutrients to limit. The link between carbohydrate, protein, fat, fiber and sugar intake at breakfast and the nutrient density in subsequent meals was evaluated using dose-response analysis. A total of 427 adults (199 men and 228 women) were included. The study found an inverse relationship between sugar intake at breakfast and nutrient density at lunch. Specifically, consuming up to 10 g of sugar at breakfast was associated with a reduction in the NRF profile, Additionally, breakfasts containing 12 g of fat were linked to the lowest nutrient density (p non-linearity < 0.001). The dose-response test showed a non-linear relationship (p non-linearity < 0.001); the intake of fiber in breakfast up to 1.5 g was associated with a steep increase in dinner NRF while higher intakes resulted in a more gradual slope of improvement (p non-linearity < 0.001). This study revealed that increment in fat and sugar intake at breakfast is associated with decrease in NRF score at lunch. Moreover, increasing fiber consumption at breakfast is associated with increasing the dinner quality. Consuming a higher quality breakfast is associated with better overall diet quality. © The Author(s) 2025.