Skipping Breakfast and its Association with Socio-demographic Characteristics, Night Eating Syndrome, and Sleep Quality among University Students in Karachi: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Morning meal is often considered as essential meal, yet many university students omit this meal owing to diverse habits and daily routine. Studies suggested a potential connection between breakfast omission, demographic traits, irregular eating patterns like Night Eating Syndrome(NES) and poor sleep efficiency. Students in the academic environment experience high stress, along with erratic meal timing and sleep issues, which could be factors in omission of first meal. Despite the fact that breakfast omission is frequently linked to reduced mental clarity and lower energy, its specific effects on university students remains under-researched. Exploring these factors will shed light on how sociodemographic variables, eating patterns and sleep efficiency affect breakfast omission and offer direction for health related interventions. To determine the patterns of breakfast omission and its potential effect on sleep quality and overall physical health among university students in Karachi. The purpose of this study is to assess breakfast omission patterns and their association with physical health status and sleep quality among university students in Karachi. A cross sectional study will be conducted, including male and female students aged (above 18 years) from various academic disciplines. Following the acquisition of informed consent, participants will be surveyed using physical questionnaire to collect requisite data. The data will be analyzed and interpreted using the SPSS version. We conducted a cross sectional study that assessed the relationship between Skipping breakfast and its association with sociodemographic characteristics, night eating syndrome, and sleep quality among university students in Karachi. Significant associations were found especially between sleep quality and Night Eating Syndrome(NES). Chi-square test indicated that hypothesis with p values less than 0.05 are statistically significant except for the relation between sociodemographic factors and skipping breakfast. Statistical test showed significant relationship between skipping breakfast and sleep quality except for the non-significant relationship between sociodemographic factors and breakfast omission. The study suggests that improving sleep quality may minimize breakfast omission in university students along with eliminating health related consequences. Statistical analysis confirmed the rejection of null hypothesis, indicating positive connection between breakfast skipping and sleep quality. Further research should focus on Long term consequences or health related effects of breakfast omission on sleep quality.