Breakfast Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies Publisher Pubmed



Zahedi H¹ ; Djalalinia S^{2, 3} ; Sadeghi O^{4, 5} ; Zare Garizi F⁶ ; Asayesh H⁷ ; Payab M⁸ ; Zarei M⁹ ; Qorbani M^{10, 11}
Source: Nutritional Neuroscience Published:2022

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. © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.