A recent study published in Nutrients (2022) examined the association between breakfast frequency and the incidence of frequent alcohol drinking, defined as drinking ≥4 days/week among 26,179 college students ages 18-22 years old in Japan.
Skipping breakfast was significantly associated with the incidence of frequent alcohol drinking comparing those eating every day, skipping occasionally, and skipping often/usually in both men and women.
University students who skipped breakfast were at a higher risk of frequent alcohol drinking than those who ate breakfast every day.
One plausible mechanism for the association between skipping breakfast and frequency of alcohol drinking may be depression as skipping breakfast is a clinical predictor of depression.
These findings provide clinically useful information to identify university students potentially vulnerable to excessive alcohol consumption.
This study suggests that prevention providers should integrate daily breakfast eating as a behavioral target in their programs and campaigns to prevent alcohol misuse and improve the mental health of young adults.
Read the entire study: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9267987/