Breakfast skipping is associated with metabolic syndrome in observational studies
The review found higher odds of metabolic syndrome among people who skipped breakfast, but it cannot show that changing breakfast habits prevents disease.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Breakfast skipping was associated with metabolic syndrome and with abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood fats and high blood glucose. The evidence included studies measuring breakfast habits and health at the same time. These associations do not establish that skipping breakfast causes disease or that eating breakfast would prevent it.
This brief uses only the abstract, which does not describe participants, follow-up periods, breakfast definitions or adjustment for other factors. Those gaps limit interpretation and applicability of the association.
What researchers found
Metabolic syndrome
Breakfast skipping versus unspecified reference categories; observation periods unreported. Estimated odds were 1.10 times the reference group's odds. The confidence interval spans 1.04–1.17 times, describing uncertainty in relative odds rather than disease probability or additional cases.
Different observational designs
The review combined studies following people over time with studies taking a snapshot. The abstract does not separate their estimates, limiting what readers can conclude about the timing of the association.
What odds mean
Odds compare having a condition with not having it. The abstract gives no absolute event frequencies, so the reported relative association cannot tell readers how many additional people had metabolic syndrome.
The original publication
Association of Skipping Breakfast with Metabolic Syndrome and Its Components: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.
Yang B, Lian L, Xing K et al.
Nutrients · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41097232
- Record checked
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