Breakfast consumption frequency is associated with dyslipidemia: a retrospective cohort study of a working population

BACKGROUND: Dyslipidemia is a significant contributor to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. Research on the relationship between breakfast consumption frequency and dyslipidemia in the working population is lacking. Therefore, we aimed to investigate this relationship based on a retrospective cohort study of a large working population in China. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study used data from the physical examinations and questionnaire survey of working participants at Nanfang Hospital from January 20, 2015 to October 16, 2020. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the relationship between breakfast consumption frequency and dyslipidemia in this working population (n = 7644). RESULTS: The prevalence of dyslipidemia among the participants was 26.4%. The univariate logistic regression test showed that the breakfast consumption frequency was inversely correlated with dyslipidemia. After adjusting for multiple factors, such as sex, age, body mass index, hypertension, hyperuricaemia, diabetes, smoking status, alcohol consumption, education level, marital status, long-term exposure to kitchen oil fumes, attending business dinners, and sleep time, it was found that breakfast consumption remained inversely associated with dyslipidaemia. The odds ratio for daily breakfast consumption was 0.466 (95% confidence interval 0.283–0.770, P = 0.003). After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that the higher the frequency of breakfast consumption, the lower the odds ratios for hypertriglyceridaemia. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that breakfast consumption frequency was inversely correlated with dyslipidemia. The higher the frequency of breakfast, the lower the risk of hypertriglyceridaemia. This study provides a basis on which dietary suggestions for the working population and lifestyle guidance for patients with a clinical need to prevent dyslipidemia can be made. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12944-022-01641-x.