The aim of this study was to explore the effects of breakfast consumption on both healthy lifestyle and perceived health of college females. The data from 577 female students of four universities in the metropolitan area were utilized in the present study (53.4% valid response rate). Participants were divided into three groups according to their breakfast consumption habits: Group 1 (456 participants, 79.0%) comprised participants who ate breakfast 7 times a week, Group 2 (63 participants, 10.9%) comprised those who ate breakfast 4-6 times a week, and Group 3 (58 participants, 10.1%) comprised those who ate breakfast less than 3 times a week. Those who did not eat breakfast every morning thus accounted for 21.0%, which was consistent with the results concerning 20 year-old females gained by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The females who skipped breakfast had relations to living alone, an irregular life, a nocturnal life, a decline in opportunities of cooking meals, little intake of energy and nutrients, and high scores of perceived poor health. These results suggested that, to live a healthy life, it is important for female college students to make a habit of having breakfast, and that they can have breakfast by both making it a rule to keep early hours and increasing the opportunities to come in contact with food, to master simple cooking skills and to make meals.
