Examining Predictors of Breakfast Skipping and Breakfast Program Use Among Secondary School Students in the COMPASS Study.

BACKGROUND: Many Canadian schools offer breakfast programs; however, students' engagement in these programs is low, while breakfast skipping is highly prevalent among youth. This study examined whether the availability of breakfast programs supports adolescents' regular breakfast eating, and identified characteristics of breakfast skippers who are not using these programs.

METHODS: Data from 30,771 secondary school students from Ontario and Alberta, Canada, participating in Year 3 (2014-2015) of the COMPASS study were used for descriptive and logistic regression analyses. Participants were categorized by self-reported breakfast eating and school breakfast program use.

RESULTS: Sixteen percent of participants reported using school breakfast programs. Breakfast skipping was highly prevalent among participants, regardless of their breakfast program use. Characteristics significantly associated with program use included traveling to school via public transit or a school bus, being a bullying victim, and having a high school connectedness score. A desire to lose weight and non-involvement in school sports were significantly associated with being a "breakfast skipper/nonprogram user."

CONCLUSIONS: School breakfast programs do not consistently support regular breakfast eating, even among adolescents actively engaged in these programs. Future research should identify and evaluate practices to bolster participation in breakfast programs and promote regular breakfast eating among adolescents.