Breakfast

Breakfast

Its been said once, twice, a thousand times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Many take this for face value and do not go beyond, thinking it’s just in good practice to have a meal every morning.

In reality, however, the lack of a breakfast in many of America’s youths could be a major contributing factor in childhood obesity. I have done podcasts on this subject before, but the topic of child obesity is huge. Thousands of kids today face diabetes, heart issues, and high cholesterol even before they hit their teenage years. It is easy to think that skipping a meal, even if it is considered the most important one of the day, would actually aid in lowering obesity rates. In reality, though, this could not be farther from the truth.

A recent study followed kids of various ages over a five-year period and monitored their eating habits. Their BMI (body mass index) was tracked as well and then the results were compared between kids who did not eat breakfast regularly, had a light breakfast such as cereal, and had a full meal every morning.

The results showed that overwhelmingly kids who ate a full meal every morning showed little to no rise in BMI. These kids were mostly considered in a healthy weight range in the beginning of the study and maintained this throughout. Kids who had a light breakfast, such as a bowl of cereal, showed a slightly higher rise in BMI. Finally, kids who did not have a regular breakfast showed a very large increase in BMI.

The entire community of health officials agree that a regular breakfast truly does help to maintain a healthy BMI and keep obesity in line. By the time that the kids who do not eat breakfast reach lunch hours, they are much hungrier then the kids who ate a breakfast. This forces them into eating larger quantities of food. With the unhealthy food that most kids choose today, eating more of this just spikes BMI significantly. This issue goes far beyond children. Adults, too, should consume breakfast regularly. Eating a meal in the morning maintains hunger levels throughout the day and allows you to eat properly when lunch and dinner hours are met. Want to keep the pounds off? Instead of skipping a meal, sit down every morning and have breakfast.