| Sumario: | Objective To describe breakfast habits at food group level in European adolescents and to investigate the associations between these habits and sociodemographic factors. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting Secondary schools from nine European cities participating in the HELENA (Healthy Lifestyle in Europe by Nutrition in Adolescence) Study. Breakfast habits were assessed twice using a computer-based 24 h dietary recall. Adolescents who consumed breakfast on at least one recall day were classified as `breakfast consumers¿ and adolescents who did not have anything for breakfast on either of the two recall days were considered `breakfast skippers¿. A `breakfast quality index¿ to describe breakfast quality was created based on the consumption or non-consumption of cereals/cereal products, dairy products and fruits/vegetables. The sociodemographic factors studied were sex, age, region of Europe, maternal and paternal education, family structure and family affluence. Subjects Adolescents (n 2672, 53 % girls) aged 12¿17 years. Results The majority of the adolescents reported a breakfast that scored poorly on the breakfast quality index. Older adolescents, adolescents from the southern part of Europe and adolescents from families with low socio-economic status were more likely to consume a low-quality breakfast. Conclusions The study highlights the need to promote the consumption of a high-quality breakfast among adolescents, particularly in older adolescents, adolescents from southern Europe and adolescents from families with low socio-economic status, in order to improve public health.
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