This study aimed to assess the nutritional quality of breakfast among Korean school-aged children and adolescents depending on eating together as a family, based on the 2013-2014 Korea National Health and Nutrition Survey. One day 24-hour recall data of 1,831 children and adolescents aged from 6 to 17 years were collected. The nutritional quality of breakfast was analyzed and compared between Family Breakfast Group (FBG, n=1,410) and Eating-alone Breakfast Group (EBG, n=421). The results showed that age, family structure, number of family members, and frequency of breakfast were associated with eating breakfast as a family. The calorie intake from breakfast explained 19% and 16% of the daily intake for FBG and EBG, respectively. The percentages of children and adolescents consuming Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin C, Niacin, and Iron less than 1/4 of the Estimated Average Requirements were significantly lower in FBG than in EBG. The average numbers of serving for “Grains” and “Vegetables” food groups and the average Dietary Diversity Score were significantly higher in FBG than in EBG. Overall, the results indicated that eating breakfast as a family is positively associated with nutritional quality of breakfast among Korean school-aged children and adolescents.

The objective of the this study was to identify the potential relationship between eating breakfast together as a family and the nutritional status among Korean adolescents based on the 2013~2015 Korean National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey data. This study investigated 1,300 adolescents ranging in agee from twelve to eighteen years-old. In this study, according to their eating breakfast together as a family or skipping breakfast, we classified the subjects into the eating breakfast together as a family (EBF group) (male=379, female=295), eating breakfast alone (EBA group) (male=177, female=169) and skipping breakfast (SB group) (male=152, female=128). Both male and female, age in the EBF group was lower than those of the EBA and SB group (p<0.0001, respectively). In the male, the EBF group exhibited significantly higher fiber (p=0.0168) and potassium density (p=0.0065) and lower beverage intake (% energy) (p=0.0040) than the EBA and SB groups. No difference was observed the proportion of subjects who practiced a healthy diet between three groups, however, the EBF and EBA groups had a smaller proportion of subjects who were in a condition of hypo-nutrition compared to the SB group (p<0.0001, respectively). The present findings suggest that the practice of eating breakfast together as a family in adolescents may bean important consideration in relation to micro-nutrient intake status.