BREAKFAST SKIPPING AND FAST FOOD EATING BEHAVIOR AMONG ADOLESCENTS: SANANDAJ, IRAN

Background and Aim: Fast food consumption and skip¬ping breakfast have been increasingly prevalent among high school adolescents in recent years. These unhealthy food habits are considered as risk factors of chronic diseases among adolescents and adults. The present study aims to investigate the amount of fast food consumption, breakfast, and some associated factors in adolescents. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 553 adolescent stu¬dents aged 14-18 were randomly selected from the high schools of Sanandaj, Iran. Demographic and anthropomet¬ric data and also consumption amount of fast food and breakfast in adolescents and parents along with the related factors were studied. Data were collected using a question¬naire and analyzed by Chi-square test and ANOVA. Results: The results showed that 69.8 % of the subjects con¬ sume fast food at least once a week. Fast food and breakfast consumption is related significantly to the subjects’ fathers’ occupation respectively (P=0.005), (P=0.006). Eating break¬fast is significantly higher among boys than girls (P<0.001). There was also a significant relationship between the ado¬lescents’ age and parents’ education level, and adolescents’ breakfast consumption, respectively (P =0.003), (P <0.001). The studied factors affecting adolescents’ fast food con-sumption were: their own and their families’ and friends’ in¬terest, advertisement, and close distance of the school and home to fast food stores. Conclusion: Consumption of fast food is high among Ira¬nian adolescents. It correlates significantly with such vari¬ables as father’s occupation, availability, and advertisement. Breakfast consumption correlates significantly with the ado¬lescents’ age and gender, as well as their parents’ occupation and educational level.

Fast food, Breakfast, Adolescents, Bad eating habits