Maternal and best friends' influences on meal-skipping behaviours

<span style="font-size: 12px;">Skipping meals is particularly common during adolescence and can have a detrimental effect on multiple aspects of adolescent health. </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">Understanding the correlates of meal-skipping behaviours is important for the design of nutrition interventions. The present study examined </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">maternal and best friends’ influences on adolescent meal-skipping behaviours. Frequency of skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner was </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">assessed using a Web-based survey completed by 3001 adolescent boys and girls from years 7 and 9 of secondary schools in Victoria, </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">Australia. Perceived best friend and maternal meal skipping, modelling of healthy eating (eating healthy food, limiting junk food, </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">eating fruit and vegetables) and weight watching were assessed. Best friend and maternal factors were differentially associated with </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">meal-skipping behaviours. For example, boys and girls who perceived that their best friend often skipped meals were more likely to </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">skip lunch (OR ¼ 2·01, 95% CI 1·33, 3·04 and OR ¼ 1·93, 95% CI 1·41, 2·65; P,0·001). Boys and girls who perceived that their mother </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">often skipped meals were more likely to skip breakfast (OR ¼ 1·48, 95% CI 1·01, 2·15; P,0·05 and OR ¼ 1·93, 95% CI 1·42, 2·59; </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">P,0·001) and lunch (OR ¼ 2·05, 95% CI 1·35, 3·12 and OR ¼ 2·02, 95% CI 1·43, 2·86; P,0·001). Educating adolescents on how to </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">assess and interpret unhealthy eating behaviours that they observe from significant others may be one nutrition promotion strategy to </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">reduce meal-skipping behaviour. The involvement of mothers may be particularly important in such efforts. Encouraging a peer subculture </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">that promotes regular consumption of meals and educates adolescents on the detrimental impact of meal-skipping behaviour on health </span><span style="font-size: 12px;">may also offer a promising nutrition promotion strategy.</span>