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Certain breakfast behaviors were linked with psychosocial health problems in children and teens, a Spanish study found.

Young people between the ages of 4 and 14 who regularly skipped breakfast had a more than three times higher odds of having psychosocial behavioral problems (OR 3.29, 95% CI 95% 1.47-7.35), reported José Francisco López-Gil, PhD, of the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Cuenca, Spain, and colleagues.

Interestingly, kids who ate breakfast outside the home were likewise much more likely to suffer from behavioral problems versus those who ate breakfast at home (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.27-3.33), the group wrote in .

"Our results suggest that it is not only important to eat breakfast, but it's also important where young people eat breakfast and what they eat. The fact that eating breakfast away from home is associated with greater psychosocial health problems is a novel aspect of our study," López-Gil said in a statement.

Behavioral problems included a composite of emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems, and prosocial behavior. All associations were adjusted for age, sex, region, social class, immigrant status, excess weight, physical activity level, recreational screen time, sleep duration, and Spanish Healthy Eating Index score.

Beyond where breakfast took place, the kinds of foods kids ate for breakfast were also linked with behavioral health. For example, those who said their breakfast typically consisted of coffee, milk, tea, chocolate, cocoa, and/or yogurt were more likely to have psychosocial problems than those who didn't consume these types of food and drinks (OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.21-2.55).

On the other hand, those who didn't tend to eat foods like bread, toast, cereals, and/or pastries for breakfast had a slightly higher chance of behavioral problems (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.01-1.73). Also, kids who steered clear of eggs, ham, and cheese had a significantly lower chance of behavioral issues (OR 0.56, 95% CI 0.38-0.83).

Eating fruit and/or drinking fruit juices in the morning didn't have any significant association with psychosocial behavioral problems.

"A breakfast that includes dairy and/or cereals, and minimizes certain animal foods high in saturated fat/cholesterol, could help to decrease psychosocial health problems in young people," López-Gil pointed out.

The researchers also noted that it "might be possible to underscore the significance of focusing not only on breakfast intake but also on habits related to the consumption of certain foods/beverages to try to reduce the deleterious effects of psychosocial behavioral problems in young populations."

The cross-sectional study included data on eating habits for 3,773 children from the Spanish National Health Survey completed by parents and guardians. Psychosocial behavior was determined via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, also completed by parents, in which they evaluated different behavioral, emotional, and social problems on a scale.

Among the sample, 98.9% of kids ate breakfast and 95.8% ate breakfast at home. The average age was 9.4 years, and 87% had normal psychosocial behavior.

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