Aim: To assess the prevalence and identify the predictors of breakfast skipping among 14- to 16-year-old adolescents in Jordan, focusing on mother-related variables.
Background: Breakfast is an essential meal across one's entire lifespan and especially important during the adolescent years. The practice of skipping breakfast has become so prevalent among adolescents that it is now a well-documented nutritional problem.
Design: A descriptive cross-sectional correlational design.
Methods: A proportional cluster stratified sampling protocol was used to select 1896 adolescents and their mothers (1013) during the period of March to June 2016. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect data on breakfast-skipping rates, the perceived reasons for this behavior, the perceived importance of consuming breakfast, and maternal encouragement of breakfast consumption.
Results: The prevalence of breakfast skipping was 34.3% among adolescents and 21.5% among their mothers. A significant association was found between breakfast skipping among adolescents and their mothers (χ2 [1, n = 998] = 37.90, P = .001). Maternal encouragement of breakfast consumption, gender, and adolescent perception of the importance of this meal were found to be significant predictors of adolescent breakfast skipping.
Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of involving mothers in developing nutritional health plans aimed at promoting regular breakfast consumption among adolescents.
Keywords: Jordan; adolescents; breakfast skipping; eating habits; mothers; nursing.
© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.