Breakfast consumption with and without vitamin-mineral supplement use favorably impacts daily nutrient intake of ninth-grade students.

PURPOSE: To assess the contribution of breakfast consumption (with and without dietary supplement intake) on total daily nutrient intake of ninth-grade students. METHODS: Twenty-four-hour recall of dietary intake was collected from a random sample of 711 ninth-grade students attending 12 Archdiocesan high schools in New Orleans, Louisiana. Analysis of variance techniques, Pearson's Chi-square statistic, and Breznahn-Shapiro method with Scheffé probabilities were used to analyze nutrient intake data, dietary adequacy, and nonorthogonal comparisons, respectively. RESULTS: Nineteen percent of 15-year-olds skipped breakfast, with more females skipping breakfast than males (23% vs. 14%, respectively). Thirty-six percent of nonwhite females versus 20% white females skipped breakfast. Eleven percent of subjects took some type of dietary supplement, most commonly a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Among those who ate breakfast, average energy intake from breakfast was 437 kcal. Percentage of total daily energy intake was higher from fats and lower from carbohydrates for adolescents who skipped breakfast, compared with adolescents who consumed breakfast. The percentage of subjects consuming at least two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance was significantly lower among adolescents skipping breakfast than those consuming breakfast. CONCLUSION: Regardless of supplement use, breakfast consumption makes an important nutritional contribution to total daily intake of ninth-grade students. Encouraging breakfast consumption and healthful breakfast choices is an important step toward improving the nutritional quality of diets of this age group.

Impact of breakfast consumption on nutritional adequacy of the diets of young adults in Bogalusa, Louisiana: ethnic and gender contrasts.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of breakfast consumption patterns on the nutritional adequacy of diets of young adults and determine possible ethnic and gender differences. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey of young adults in Bogalusa, La. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls were collected from October 1988 through October 1991 on 504 young adults (mean age=23 years, 58% women, 70% white). STATISTICS: Analysis of variance and logistic regression techniques were used to investigate the relationship of breakfast consumption, ethnicity, and gender on dietary adequacy. The P values are from an analysis of variance model that adjusted for gender and ethnicity. RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent of young adults skipped breakfast. Of those who ate breakfast, 75% ate at home, 10% ate a fast-food breakfast, and 15% reported other sources. Mean energy intake from breakfast was 485 kcal; men consumed more energy than women (P<.001), and blacks consumed more energy than whites (P<.01). The breakfast meal provided an average of 13% of energy from protein, 55% from carbohydrate, 14% from sucrose, 34% from fat, and 12% from saturated fat. Whites consumed a breakfast higher in carbohydrate and sucrose than blacks, who consumed a breakfast higher in fat and saturated fat. Variations in breakfast foods consumed explained the racial differences in the nutrient composition of the breakfast meal. Young adults who skipped breakfast had lower total daily intakes of energy (P<.0001), protein per 1,000 kcal (P<.05), and saturated fat per 1,000 kcal (P<.01) than those who consumed breakfast. For all vitamins and minerals studied, a higher percentage of young adults who skipped breakfast did not meet two thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance than those who consumed a breakfast. APPLICATIONS: Encouraging consumption of breakfast, along with selection of more healthful breakfast food choices or snacks that are culturally appropriate, may be important strategies for improving the nutritional quality of young adults' diets.

Dietary protein enhanced mammary ornithine decarboxylase activity and tumorigenesis in rats.

Sprague-Dawley rats (F-1) were fed a normal protein (19% casein, NP) or high protein (33% casein, HP) isoenergetic diet containing 15% corn oil prior to conception. Female pups (F-2) were also fed the maternal diet after weaning. At 7 wk of age, before saline or N-nitrosomethylurea (NMU) treatment, ornithine decarboxylase (ODC, EC 4.1.1.17) activity in mammary epithelium and liver tissue was significantly higher in the HP group than in the NP group. Eight weeks after saline treatment ODC activity in mammary tissue decreased in both groups, but remained significantly higher in the HP group. NMU treatment caused a sixfold increase in ODC activity in the mammary tissue in the HP group and a significantly lower response in the NP group. Liver ODC activity had a minimal response to NMU treatment. Changing from the HP to the NP diet 4 wk after NMU treatment reduced mammary ODC induction response but not tumor burden; changing from the NP diet to HP diet produced no change in ODC activity or tumor burden. Mammary tumor burden was positively related to dietary protein and mammary epithelium ODC activity prior to and following NMU treatment.