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BREAKFAST AND ABDOMINAL OBESITY IN ADULTS

Amaya Calore, Antonieta Isabel1, https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7712-2478, Caldera Noto, Cindy Alejandra1

2477-9172 / 2550-6692 All Rights Reserved © 2024 Technical University of Ambato, Nursing Career. This is an open access article distributed

under the terms of the Creative Commons License, which permits unlimited use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the

original work is properly cited.

Corresponding author: Dr. Hazel Anderson Vásquez. Email:hazelanderson2001@gmail.com

Received: January 20, 2024

effects, such as lower body mass index and better

insulin sensitivity. Objective: Determine the impact of

breakfast consumption on abdominal obesity.

Methods: Descriptive, observational, cross-sectional,

non-experimental and correlational research, carried

out in 206 obese patients (95 men and 111 women)

with an average age of 48±12 years; who underwent

anthropometric evaluation (weight, height, BMI,

circumference/waist, circumference/hip, waist/height

index, waist/hip index); dietary evaluation (24-hour

3% of insufficient quality. Among the female sex,

breakfast of improvable quality predominated; while

the poor quality was observed in men and with

increasing age the quality decreased. All subjects

presented a high cardiovascular risk independent of

the quality of the breakfast consumed. No association

was found between breakfast consumption and

abdominal obesity. Conclusions: Patients have high

body fat reserves, the quality of breakfast without

quantitative control does not reduce the degree of

INTRODUCTION

Obesity is a public health problem which is

progressively expanding in the world, which is why it

is considered one of the most critical medical

objectives since it is a factor that favors the

development of morbidity (1). Obesity can promote

the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hepatic

pressure, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and certain

types of cancer (endometrium, breast, ovary, prostate,

liver and colon). All of them can lead to a higher risk

of mortality (2).

It is considered a disease with multifactorial etiology

where genetics, age, sex, sedentary lifestyle, eating

behavior, drugs, chronodisruption, epigenetics,

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vary with ethnicity. Likewise, it is recognized that the

waist/height ratio indicates abdominal adiposity.

Those subjects with a waist/height ratio greater than

or equal to 0.5 are classified as having high abdominal

adiposity (2).

In this order of ideas, the distribution of body fat, in the

specific case of abdominal obesity, is associated with

metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease and

is also an independent risk factor for all-cause

In this sense, Balkau et al (4) in 2007 conducted a

study with 168,159 participants aged between 18-80

years, from 63 countries. These authors concluded

that waist circumference showed a greater probability

of cardiovascular disease and type diabetes. 2 than

BMI in participants from most regions of the world.

Likewise, Tarqui-Mamani et al (5) in 2017 determined

the risk of cardiovascular disease according to

years of age, finding that 50.1% presented a low risk

fats, associated with situations such as a sedentary

life, which are factors related to the increase in the

problem (6). Nowadays, within the meals consumed

during the day, there appears to be a global

recognition that breakfast should play a significant role

in helping consumers achieve an optimal nutritional

profile (7).

Breakfast is defined as the first meal of the day that

breaks the overnight fast, or the meal consumed

variety of beneficial health effects, such as lower body

mass index and improved insulin sensitivity, which are

significant risk factors for cardiovascular disease and

type 2 diabetes mellitus (8).

In particular, the inhabitants of a certain region can

consume what is produced in their natural space or

environment, after which they can exchange food as

a way to cover a food deficit or change their daily diet.

obesity in adults.

The combination of different factors can generate an

obesogenic environment. For example: nutritional

alterations such as the modification of the diet that has

been noticed worldwide, since over the years the

consumption of foods with high calorie content, rich in

sugars but low in vitamins, fiber, macronutrients and

minerals has increased. As well as the modification in

the number of foods consumed during the day due to

study (Anthropometry, Intake and Energy Balance in

Spain), based on food and nutrition surveys, had the

objective of determining anthropometric data, the

intake of macronutrients and micronutrients, as well

as the practice of physical activity, socioeconomic

data and lifestyles in Spain. It is confirmed that the risk

of having abdominal obesity is 1.5 times higher in

those who skip breakfast when compared to those

who always eat breakfast, and the risk is even higher

among smokers (12).

associate breakfast, weight and body composition, it

contrasts that there are few longitudinal and

intervention studies that have been able to analyze

the role of breakfast in weight control and, above all,

Based on everything previously stated, the present

research aims to evaluate the quality of breakfast in

obese adults and its relationship with abdominal

obesity as a cardiovascular risk factor. It has the

The present research is descriptive, observational

with a cross-sectional design, non-experimental and

correlational. The population was made up of 470

patients who attended the Clinical Nutrition external

consultation service at the Amado Clinic in the city of

Maracaibo, Venezuela, during the period between

July 2022-July 2023.

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no history of kidney disease, autoimmune diseases or

cancer. All research procedures were performed in

accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (14),

individual written informed consent was obtained from

all participants.

Procedures

In all patients who met the inclusion criteria, a protocol

was carried out to collect information in a nutritional

Health o Meter Continental Scale Corporation

platform scale, Bridgeview, Illinois, USA, calibrated in

kg (0.1 kg). In the nutritional evaluation of the subjects,

the following anthropometric techniques were applied

to evaluate body dimension:

Weight and height: The patient with the minimum of

clothing on, after having evacuated the rectum and

bladder, was weighed on the scale balanced at zero.

The subject was placed in an erect position, with the

upper limbs on both sides of the body, the palms and

accompanying height meter of the Health o Meter

Continental Scale Corporation, Bridgeview, Illinois,

USA platform scale calibrated in cm (0.1 cm). The

subject without shoes stood with his heels together at

a 45° angle. The heels, buttocks, back and occipital

region were in contact with the vertical surface of the

height meter. The recording was taken in cm and the

subject kept his head in the Frankfurt Plane (15).

Regarding the Body Mass Index (BMI), the weight and

For the waist/height indicator: it was obtained by

dividing the waist circumference by the height, both

measured in centimeters. The cut-off point used for

both sexes was >0.50, an indicator of cardiovascular

risk (17). Waist circumference (WC) was measured

with the individual standing, taking as a reference for

measurement the midpoint between the last rib and

the iliac crest in a plane horizontal to the ground. The

the middle vertical distance and then the same was

done on the left side (15).

Once the mean was marked on both sides with a

dermal marker, the tape was placed without

compressing it, around the waist to measure the

circumference and taking the corresponding reading.

For the anthropometric measurement of waist

circumference, the criteria of Reis et al17 were

applied. The following were considered as reference:

Hip circumference was obtained by asking the subject

to uncover the part that includes the hip to palpate the

greater trochanters of the head of the femur. Once the

trochanters were located, the measuring tape was

placed without compressing it around them, at their

maximum circumference, and the reading was taken

(15). The Waist Hip Index (WHR) was calculated by

dividing these circumferences; the following scale was

used (16): Cardiovascular risk: Men: >0.90 and

Women: >0.80.

interviewee is asked to remember all the foods and

drinks ingested in the preceding 24 hours, or during

the previous day, using measurements practical as a

reminder. The food consumption preference consists

of a list of foods, or food groups, where it is requested

whether or not to consume certain foods. It consisted

of 45 items (19).

On the other hand, the Breakfast Quality Index (BQI)

reported as consumed or not in dietary records was

considered. Likewise, the fourth component was

included according to the combined consumption of

cereals, dairy products, and fruits or vegetables at

breakfast on at least one day (20, 21).

The categories to evaluate the quality of breakfast

were: good quality (includes at least one portion of

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