Personal Injury Law

Lean Teens Do Best With Breakfast

By Jane Akre

In the mad rush to get your teenager out of the door in the morning and onto school - don't forget the breakfast.  

Teens who ate breakfast regularly tended to have more healthy habits all-around such as exercise and a healthy diet and lower weight according to researchers.

2,216 adolescents were included in this study from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. The teens were tracked for years beginning  just before they turned 15 and were monitored for eating patterns, weight gain and lifestyle in general.

The study, "Breakfast Eating and Weight Change in a 5-Year Prospective Analysis of Adolescents: Project EAT," will be published in the March edition of Pediatrics.

The University of Minnesota School of Public health researchers found those teens who ate breakfast regularly had the lower body mass index, a measure a weight relative to height.   Teens who skipped the most important meal of the day on average weighed about five pounds more.

"What we found in the study was that kids who eat breakfast frequently, and especially every day, they're more healthy overall in terms of their lifestyle," Mark Pereira of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, who led the study, said in a telephone interview to Reuters.

A healthy diet was defined as lower fat intake and cholesterol and higher fiber intake. Health was defined as weight maintenance and regular exercise.

The theory is that breaking a fast actually helps people better control their appetite throughout the day instead of binging at lunch or dinner.

And donuts might not be the best selection. Researchers say encourage your children to make health choices including fiber from nutritious cereals and protein from milk, meat or eggs as well as fruit. 

This is important information for parents to consider as over the past two decades obesity rates have doubled in children and nearly tripled in adolescents.   Estimates are up to a quarter of them are skipping breakfast with the rates increasing as children age. # 

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on March 03, 2008 (boomark / email).