Abstract

ntroduction.! A !complete!breakfast!is!an!important!mealtime!that!has!multiple!health benefits!and!a!determining!role!in!the!supply!of!essential!nutrients,!depending!on!its composition.!It!also!contributes!to!the!physical!and! intellectual!performance!of!students!and promotes!the!correct!daily!energy!distribution,!which!is!related!to!overweight!and!obesity. The!objective!of!this!research!was!to!identify!the!frequency!of!breakfast!and!its!relationship with!academic!performance!in! university!students. Methods:! Cross-sectional,!analytical!study!with!convenience!sampling,!including!university students!from!different!academic!fields!at!the!Benemérita!Universidad!Autonoma!de!Puebla, Mexico,!who!were!administered!a!questionnaire!on!eating!habits,!academic!habits,!and anthropometric!measurements. Results:! A!total!of!498!university!students!(255!men!and!244!women)!participated.!School breakfast!influenced!academic!performance.!Those!who!always!ate!breakfast!(21%)!had higher!scores! (median:!9,!RIC:!8-9)!than!those!who!never!ate!breakfast!(2.4%)!and!almost never!(11%),!with!lower!scores!between!8-7.!Subjects!who!never!eat!breakfast!are!6.8!times more!likely!to!have!worse!academic!performance!(OR=6.88,!95%CI:!1.42-33.32). Conclusions:! Breakfast!frequency!is!associated!with!academic!performance.