Breakfast consumption and body mass index of undergraduate students of human nutrition and dietetics, Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Background: Increased body weight is one of the detrimental health effects of skipping breakfast.Objective: This study examined breakfast consumption and body mass index (BMI) of students in the Human Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Lead City University Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.Methods: This cross-sectional study involved one hundred (100) undergraduate students. The students were selected randomly and a proportionate method was used to calculate the number of students selected at each level. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the eligible respondents. Data wereanalyzed using SPSS version 23.0 for descriptives such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviations and Chi-square was used to determine the relationship at p<0.05Results: The mean age of the undergraduate students was 21.5 ± 2.8 years. More than half (53.0%) of the students did not consume breakfast on a daily basis. Ready-to-eat foods (27.0%) were the most commonly consumed breakfast foods. Although more than half of the students were of normal weight status (58.0%), theprevalence of overweight was high (22.0%). Chi-square test results showed that there was a significant relationship between breakfast consumption and BMI ( 2 = 44.282, p = 0.000). Overweight (22.0%) and obesity (8.0%) were higher among undergraduate students who skipped breakfast than those who did not.Conclusion: Consumption of breakfast has a significant influence on the nutritional status of undergraduate students. It is important, therefore, to develop policies within institutions that will provide an avenue for breakfast consumption among university students.