Changes in breakfast and water consumption among adolescents in Canada: examining the impact of COVID-19 in worsening inequity

• Published in: BMC nutrition 2024-02, Vol.10 (1), p.27-27, Article 27
• Main Authors: Duncan, Markus J, Belita, Emily, Amores, Angelica, Riazi, Negin A, Carsley, Sarah, Vanderloo, Leigh M, Carson, Valerie, Chaput, Jean-Philippe, Faulkner, Guy, Leatherdale, Scott T, Patte, Karen A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescence; alcohols; Breakfast; Canada; Cannabis; Children & youth; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 infection; Design; Disease transmission; Eating behavior; Enrollments; Equity; Ethnicity; Exercise; females; Food security; Gender; Health care; Healthy eating; Learning; Longitudinal; males; mental health; nationalities and ethnic groups; Nutrition research; obesity; Pandemics; physical activity; Public health; Questionnaires; Research ethics; Response rates; School boards; School closures; sedentary lifestyle; socioeconomic status; Students; surveys; Systematic review; Teenagers; Water consumption
• ISSN: 2055-0928; 2055-0928
• DOI: 10.1186/s40795-024-00831-3

To assess whether changes in breakfast and water consumption during the first full school year after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic varied based on sex/gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status among Canadian adolescents. Prospective annual survey data collected pre- (October 2019-March 2020) and post-COVID-19 onset (November 2020-June 2021) the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol, Smoking, and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study. The sample consisted of 8,128 students; mean (SD) age = 14.2 (1.3) years from a convenience sample of 41 Canadian secondary schools. At both timepoints self-reported breakfast and water consumption were dichotomized as daily or not. Multivariable logistic generalized estimating equations with school clustering were used to estimate differences in maintenance/adoption of daily consumption post-COVID-19 based on demographic factors, while controlling for pre-COVID-19 behaviour. Adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals are reported. Females (AOR = 0.71 [0.63, 0.79]) and lower socioeconomic status individuals (AOR =0.41 [0.16, 1.00]) were less likely to maintain/adopt daily breakfast consumption than male and higher socioeconomic status peers in the 2020-2021 school year. Black identifying individuals were less likely than all other racial/ethnic identities to maintain/adopt plain water consumption every day of the week (AOR = 0.33 [0.15, 0.75], p