Breakfast is considered to be one of the most important meals of the day. Its omission has been reported to be associated with increased disease risk, such as obesity, diabetes, and coronary heart disease, as well as unhealthy lifestyle and lower dietary quality. Using data from the National Adult Nutrition Survey (NANS)—a food consumption survey conducted among 1500 Irish men and women over 18 years of age, residing in the Republic of Ireland at the time the survey was conducted—we aimed to characterize breakfast regularity, identify dietary patterns associated with regular breakfast consumption, and assess the nutritional quality of such dietary patterns, using the nutrient-rich food index score NRF9.3. We determined two breakfast regularity categories and assessed dietary quality, by means of adherence to the principal component analysis derived dietary patterns and the NRF9.3 dietary index. Regular breakfast consumers were identified as those who consumed breakfast 3–4 times out of the 4 days of the collection period; such consumers comprised the majority of the population (94.4%). They had the highest adherence to healthier dietary patterns, namely, the “vegetarian” (odds ratio (OR): 2.59: 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.40, 4.77), “fish and vegetables” (OR: 2.88: 95% CI: 1.63, 5.10), and “breakfast cereals” (OR: 4.62: 95% CI: 2.43, 8.79) dietary patterns. Breakfast significantly contributed to the daily micronutrient intake by providing, on average, 24% of dietary fiber, 32% of iron, 30% of calcium, 32% of folate, and 37% of riboflavin. The importance of regular breakfast consumption on those who skip breakfast should be highlighted, in order to improve compliance with nutritional recommendations and adherence to a healthy lifestyle.

(1) Background: Working night shifts has been associated with altered circadian rhythms, lifestyle habits, and cardiometabolic risks. No information on the potential association of working shift and the presence of atherosclerosis is available. The aim of this study was to quantify the association between different work shifts and the presence of subclinical atherosclerosis objectively measured by imaging. (2) Methods: Analyses were conducted on the baseline data of the Aragon Workers Health Study (AWHS) cohort, including information on 2459 middle-aged men. Categories of shift work included central day shift, rotating morning-evening or morning-evening-night shift, and night shift. The presence of atherosclerotic plaques was assessed by 2D ultrasound in the carotid and femoral vascular territories. Multivariable logistic models and mediation analysis were conducted to characterize and quantify the association between study variables. (3) Results: Participants working night or rotating shifts presented an overall worse cardiometabolic risk profile, as well as more detrimental lifestyle habits. Workers in the most intense (morning-evening-night) rotating shift presented higher odds of subclinical atherosclerosis (odds ratio: 1.6; 95% confidence interval: 1.12 to 2.27) compared to workers in the central shift, independently of the presence of lifestyle and metabolic risk factors. A considerable (21%) proportion of this association was found to be mediated by smoking, indicating that altered sleep-wake cycles have a direct relationship with the early presence of atherosclerotic lesions. (4) Conclusions: Work shifts should be factored in during workers health examinations, and when developing effective workplace wellness programs.