Breakfast Consumption and Its Association with Insulin Resistance in a Large-Scale Cohort of Children and Adolescents with Overweight/Obesity in Greece.

Introduction: Breakfast skipping has been proposed as a determinant of childhood obesity and disorders of glucose metabolism. The present study aimed to examine the association between breakfast skipping and insulin resistance in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity. Methods: In total, 1291 children aged 2-18 years old (boys = 48.4%, boys with obesity = 69.8%; girls = 51.6%, girls with obesity = 60.8%) participated in the study, providing sociodemographic, anthropometric, lifestyle, biochemical, and clinical data. Breakfast consumption was assessed using a validated questionnaire. The IOTF criteria were used to categorize children's body mass index (BMI) status, while the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR) was used to assess insulin resistance. Results: According to the findings of this study, 37.3% of the children/adolescents were found to skip daily breakfast consumption. Girls tended to skip breakfast more than boys (40.5% vs. 33.9%, p = 0.016), with the percentage of girls skipping breakfast increasing in the older age groups (2-5 yrs: 27% vs. 6-12 yrs: 39.1% vs. 13-18 yrs: 53.5%, p = 0.001). Linear regression analyses showed that breakfast skipping is associated with HOMA-IR in the total sample and in children and adolescents with obesity, after adjusting for several confounding factors (age, gender, Tanner stage, residency, and sports participation). Conclusions: A large number of children and adolescents with overweight or obesity, especially adolescent girls, skip daily breakfast consumption, which was associated with insulin resistance. These findings underscore the importance of promoting regular breakfast consumption as a preventive strategy against metabolic complications in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity.