Breakfast prevalence of medical students is higher than students from nonmedical faculties in Inner Mongolia Medical University

Skipping breakfast is becoming common worldwide. Our previous studies showed that the breakfast prevalence was relatively low. In three cross-sectional studies, breakfast prevalence in various populations in Inner Mongolia Medical University campus in 2011, 2013 and 2017 was investigated. Risk of skipping breakfast in 2017 was analyzed. In follow-up study, the incidence, RR, AR% and PAR% of eating and skipping breakfast from 2011 to 2013 were calculated. Data of 18,231 individuals were collected. Breakfast prevalence growth was 16.1% during the seven years. The annulus growth of breakfast prevalence was 9.3% (2013 vs 2011, P < 0.001) and 6.3% (2017 vs 2013, P < 0.001). The breakfast prevalence of three cross-sectional studies (73.0 vs 64.9%, P < 0.001; 79.5 vs 69.6%, P < 0.001; and 82.8 vs 77.4%, P < 0.001) and the breakfast incidence of a two-year follow-up study (70.6 vs 48.5% 95% CI: 1.12–1.90) both showed that breakfast consumption in medical students is higher than that in students from nonmedical faculties. The seven-year average breakfast prevalence of male and female medical students (70.0 and 82.5%) was 1.31 (95% CI: 1.23–1.39) and 1.09 (95% CI: 1.06–1.11) that of male and female students from nonmedical faculties (53.6 and 75.8%), respectively. Medical students have a higher breakfast consumption than nonmedical students. Male students from nonmedical faculties have the lowest breakfast prevalence and the highest breakfast skip risk in our university.