Skipping Breakfast? Beware Broken Bones, Study Says
FRIDAY, Aug. 29, 2025 — Breakfast is said to be the most important meal of the day, and a new study says that’s absolutely true as far as bone health is concerned.
Folks who skip breakfast have a greater risk of broken bones from osteoporosis, researchers reported Aug. 28 in the Journal of the Endocrine Society.
“We found skipping breakfast and having late dinners was associated with an increased risk of osteoporosis,” said lead researcher Dr. Hiroki Nakajima of Nara Medical University in Japan.
“Furthermore, these unhealthy eating habits were found to be linked with the accumulation of other lifestyle risk factors such as physical inactivity, smoking and insufficient sleep,” Nakajima added in a news release.
For the study, researchers analyzed health claims and checkup data from more than 927,000 people in Japan age 20 and older.
The team looked for associations between lifestyle and people’s risk of a hip, arm or leg fracture due to osteoporosis.
Results showed that skipping breakfast increased a person’s risk of a broken bone from osteoporosis by 18%, smoking by 11% and eating dinner late by 8%.
If a person both skipped breakfast and ate late dinner, their risk of osteoporosis and a bone break rose to 23%, researchers found.
Other unhealthy habits that increased risk of broken bones included daily alcohol consumption, a lack of exercise and bad sleep, researchers said.
“These results suggest that preventing osteoporosis and fractures requires not only healthy eating habits but also a broader effort to improve overall lifestyle behaviors,” Nakajima said.
People who skipped breakfast tended to have lower vitamin D and calcium intake, indicating that nutritional deficiencies could be contributing to their risk of osteoporosis, researchers wrote.
“These results indicated that osteoporosis is a lifestyle-related disease,” researchers concluded. “Future research is needed to investigate the relationship between late-night dinners and bone metabolism, as well as intervention studies focusing on guidance regarding skipping breakfast and having late dinners.”
Sources
- Endocrine Society, news release, Aug. 28, 2025
- Journal of the Endocrine Society, Aug. 28, 2025
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Read this next
Wildfire Smoke Now Kills 41,000 Americans a Year, Study Finds
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2025 — Every summer, hazy skies and the smell of burning wood remind Americans that wildfires affect far more than just the communities where they...
Organ Donation Agency Could Be First Ever Shut Down by U.S. Government
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2025 — Federal health officials have moved to close down a Miami-based organ donation agency, citing unsafe practices, missed donations and critical...
Weight-Loss Surgery Outperforms GLP-1 Drugs, Study Argues
FRIDAY, Sept. 19, 2025 — Cutting-edge drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound are all the rage for dropping excess pounds, but weight-loss surgery might have a better impact on...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.