Association of meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents: The CASPIAN-V Study

The aim of this 2020 study was to determine the association between meal skipping and subjective health complaints among children and adolescents living in Iran. As a part of the fifth national school-based surveillance program (CASPIAN-V) in Iran, a total of 14,400 academics aged between 7-18 years old (mean age 12.3) were selected from 30 Iranian provinces using multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Breakfast was found to be associated with an increase in risk of the following: stomachache (OR = 1.77), backache (OR = 1.68), difficulty getting to sleep (OR = 1.66), feeling nervous (OR = 1.59), and irritability (OR = 1.29). The same pattern was seen in skipping lunch, with greater incidences of stomachache (OR = 1.63), headache (OR = 1.27), backache (OR = 1.58), and also difficulty getting to sleep (OR = 2.07). While dinner skipping was related to 39, 59 and 52% increase in odds of headache, feeling low and difficulty in getting to sleep, respectively, it was associated with decreased odds of stomachache (OR 0.33). Azemati and others (2020) concluded that since meal skipping was associated with some somatic and psychological health complaints among children in this study, regular meal consumption, that is at least three times a day, is highly recommended in this young population. [NPID: behavior, meal skipping, adolescence, Iran, breakfast, stomachache, backache, sleep difficulty, nervousness, irritability, headache, feeling low, low affect]

Year: 2020

Reference: Azemati, B., Heshmat, R., Qorbani, M., Ahadi, Z., Azemati, A., Shafiee, G., Ziaodini, H., Motlagh, M. E., & Kelishadi, R. (2020). Association of meal skipping with subjective health complaints in children and adolescents: the CASPIAN-V study. Eating and weight disorders : EWD, 25(1), 241–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-018-0559-1

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