Breakfast consumption, saturated fat intake, and body mass index among medical and non-medical students: a cross-sectional analysis

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 12608 - 11
• Main Authors: Saintila, Jacksaint, Carranza-Cubas, Sandra P, Santamaria-Acosta, Omar F A, Serpa-Barrientos, Antonio, Ramos-Vera, Cristian, López-López, Elmer, Geraldo-Campos, Luis Alberto, Calizaya-Milla, Yaquelin E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Nature Publishing Group 01.06.2024; Nature Publishing Group UK; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Body Mass Index; Body weight; Breakfast; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dietary Fats; Eating behavior; Eating habits; Fatty Acids; Feeding Behavior; Female; Food; Food consumption; Food intake; Humans; Male; Margarine; Medical students; Non-medical students; Peru; Quality of life; Regression analysis; Saturated fat intake; Students; Students - statistics & numerical data; Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data; Universities; University students; Young Adult; Peru; Medical students; Breakfast; Non-medical students; Eating habits; Saturated fat intake; University students
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-63440-x

Changes in dietary patterns and body weight have become a focus of research in undergraduate students. This study compared breakfast consumption, intake of foods high in saturated fat, and BMI between medical and non-medical students. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in 4,561 Peruvian university students, of whom 1,464 (32.1%) were from the medical field and 3,097 (67.9%) from the non-medical field. We compared the frequency of breakfast consumption (categorized as regular: 6 to 7 days/week; occasional: 3 to 5 days/week; and rarely or never: 0 to 2 days/week) and the frequency of consumption of foods high in saturated fat. We created simple and multiple linear and Poisson regression models with robust variance to evaluate the association of the mentioned variables with academic fields. Non-medical students (Adjusted Prevalence Ratio [PR] = 0.92, 95% CI 0.86-0.99; p = 0.008) were less likely to eat breakfast regularly compared to medical students. Likewise, consumption of foods high in saturated fats was higher in non-medical students (B = 1.47, 95% CI 0.91-2.04; p < 0.001) compared to medical students. Similarly, the mean BMI of these students was significantly higher than that of medical students (B = 0.33, 95% CI 0.12-0.53; p = 0.002). Although medical students reported relatively healthy eating habits and a lower BMI, there is a widespread need to promote improved diet and lifestyle among the entire university population to reduce the risks of communicable diseases and improve quality of life.