Vital Signs
Maybe mother was right after all: breakfast may, in fact, be the most important meal of the day.
Researchers reviewed 47 nutrition studies and concluded that children and adolescents who ate breakfast had better mental function and better school attendance records than those who did not. And breakfast eaters, even though they consumed more calories, were less likely to be overweight than those who skipped breakfast.
The review appears in the May issue of The Journal of the American Dietetic Association. One of the report's five authors, Judi Adams, a dietitian, was president of the Wheat Foods Council, an industry group, when the research was conducted.
The report argues that ready-to-eat cereals, often condemned for their refined grain and sugar content, may be a major reason for the observed health benefits of eating breakfast, although none of the reviewed studies presented data in a way that would lend scientific support to that contention.
The researchers, led by Gail Rampersaud, an assistant in nutrition research and education at the University of Florida, found a number of studies that supported the idea that eating breakfast improved memory and school performance.
They suggested several possible reasons. For example, eating breakfast may modulate short-term metabolic responses to fasting, cause changes in neurotransmitter concentrations or simply eliminate the distracting physiological effects of hunger.
They also cautioned that the interpretation of the findings might not hold up when socioeconomic and other social or educational variables were taken into account.
"I would tell parents that eating breakfast every morning may help their children maintain a healthy weight and do better in school," Ms. Rampersaud said.
Copyright 2005 by New York Times.
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