SubscribeEating Breakfast Keeps Teens Lean
Eating a good breakfast is one of those generation-tested mantras that have become lost on many these days. Teens are of particular concern as more of them seem to opt for an extra 20 minutes of sleep, a shower or some Facebook time instead of a good breakfast.
Take that iPod out of your ears and listen up kids: According to a recent study of 2000 teens, those who skipped breakfast weighed an average of 5 lbs more than those who ate breakfast.
Here are some other findings from the study;
- The breakfast eaters, despite being leaner consumed more calories throughout the day
- Breakfast eaters were also more active. "While they ate more calories, they did more to burn those off, and that may be because those who ate breakfast did not feel so lethargic." Said Mark Pereira - Author of the study.
- Around 25% of the group studied regularly missed breakfast - this was particularly problematic for adolescent females.
- "They (females) skip breakfast because they worry about weight gain - and it's ironic that the ones who aren't worried and eat in the mornings are the ones who keep their weight down." Pereira
But what are they eating?
I think a crucial factor here isn't so much the "if" as it is the "what". It would be more telling to examine the types of breakfasts adolescents were eating - especially with the preponderance of unhealthy options available.
What do other studies tell us?
While many studies have demonstrated favorable results between breakfast eaters and calorie consumption/body weight, it is difficult to say whether this is a cause or an effect. A review of 47 studies relating to breakfast nutritional status, body weight, and academic performance in children and adolescents revealed the following:
- Children who reported eating breakfast on a consistent basis tended to have superior nutritional profiles than their breakfast-skipping peers
- Breakfast eaters generally consumed more daily calories yet were less likely to be overweight, BUT studies were mixed
- Breakfast consumption may improve cognitive function related to memory, test grades, and school attendance
What to take from this
- Breakfast is a very important part of an overall healthy lifestyle - make it a healthy one
- Eating breakfast can help give you a mental boost as well as a physical one by leveling off blood sugar
- New to breakfast? Not hungry in the morning? Start small and if you want, stay small. Breakfast needn't be a big to-do. People have different tolerances here - find what works for you, but eat something!
- High fiber (4+g), low sugar (-8g), low ingredient (-7) cereal
- Yogurt with fruit (your fruit, not the jams the commercial brands stick in there)
- Smoothie: Mix milk/water with berries, yogurt/cottage cheese, flaxseeds and cinnamon
- Oatmeal: Add berries, flaxseeds, wheat germ. Add raisins and cinnamon if you are feeling really risqué
Woke up too late? Grab a banana, apple, orange or some dry cereal.
References:
Journal of the American Dietetic Association. (2005) May;105(5):743-60
International Journal of Obesity (2003) 27, 1258-1266.
I eat oatmeal or a bagel and Nutella for breakfast because I don't eat until I get to work. I went for years without eating any kind of breakfast and it is an easy habit to get into.
If you don't eat breakie you will snack, and snacking tends to be bad food in the mornings
ReplyThey have generic Nutella, usually German brands, that contain no trans-fats. Just letting you know that there are better and cheaper brands.
ReplyI've never seen anything except the actual Nutella...I bet a specialty store would have the generic stuff. I'll have to look for it because I happen to LOVE Nutella.
ReplyI used to eat breakfast all the time in high school. I never was exactly THIN, per se, but I'm pretty sure that was more because what I did eat for breakfast was pretty unhealthy...donuts and cappuccino or pop tarts. I had a LOT of friends that skipped breakfast though. I always did think that was a dumb idea, especially since our school didn't let you eat during class. I used to get so annoyed with those girls that would sit there and whine in class: "I'm sooooo hungry....I didn't eat breakfast!"
My favorite thing was when I took home ec and had that class first thing in the morning. Once we made a big breakfast with pancakes and eggs and sausage. It was kind of neat to start out the day with a big sit-down breakfast at school. Too bad I couldn't do that every day!
ReplyI always find (found) that if I don't eat breakfast, I am so hungry by lunch, that I eat really bad, unhealthy foods. For example, today I skipped breakfast because I was traveling, and for lunch (a very late lunch), I had two hot dogs and fries.
ReplyBreakfast is definitely most important. I encourage my kids and anyone I work with at the gym to always eat a nutritious breakfast.
My teen son eats well...something like Total, milk, yogurt, OJ, banana and vitamins.
My teen daughter, however, loves to eat eggs but she's happy with egg whites with a little cheese and a little bit of bacon bits (she says for flavor). I make her eat a fruit, like banana or strawberries too.
When they are running late to catch the bus I send them off with some type of protein bar or bagel with peanut butter and a banana.
They have both realized that not eating usually means they will have a bad day at school--from headaches to irritability.
Great article. Thanks for sharing.
SpinDiva
ReplyThat's great, but I wonder if your daughter should be eating the egg yolks too? They contain some really essential nutrients, particularly iron.
ReplyAlso, the fat in eggs is much better for her than the fat in cheese.
Just an idea :)
I've been eating two fried eggs every morning for the past couple weeks, an it's delicious and doesn't feel like health food.
Now, I'm not sure it's good for me, but I felt like sharing.
ReplyEating eggs every morning is defiantly not healthy, especially when you fry them and eat not only whites
3-4 eggs per week is ok
ReplyDefiantly eh? *waggles eyebrows*
Replysoorry, English is not my language ;)
ReplyYolks are not bad for anybody, and neither is frying your eggs. Everyone uses non-stick pans anyway, and a little bit of oil is necessary for health.
ReplyYeah, eggs aren't as bad for you as people once thought. There isn't a very strong link between blood cholesterol levels and the amount of cholesterol in your food. A couple eggs a day is perfectly fine. Frying them isn't the most healthy way to prepare them if you're using a lot of butter or oil (or lard) because it adds a lot of fat. My favorite way to eat eggs is either poached or scrambled up with some salsa.
ReplyI'm assuming people are frying in a nonstick pan, as I said, with 2 tsp of their favorite oil. Of course, smothering them in a pool of oil would be a bad idea, but you don't fry eggs or steak or any other things like that at a high enough temperature that the oil would be harmful to you, like deep-fried food is (proven to be carcinogenic, and some of the oil turns into trans fats when it starts smoking).
ReplyEggs are also high in terms of satiety. In other words they keep you feeling full and prevent you from heading to the pantry or vending machine 20 minutes later.
Replyback in high school, i used to never eat breakfast. or lunch. i would starve all day until i got home at 5-6 pm. then i would eat a HUGE dinner. not surprising that i was chubby back then.
now i need to eat within 20 minutes of waking. i usually eat the same breakfast everyday - a sandwich (170 cals), a banana (110 cals), and oatmeal (100 cals). i can't imagine life without breakfast now. :)
ReplyGreat article. It's important that everyone eat breakfast. Really with so many healthy "on the go" breakfast's available, it makes no sense for someone to skip the most important meal of the day. My mom always told me "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."
ReplyThis is the best advice I have seen so far, and I agree.
ReplyMany studies have shown that children who eat breakfast are generally more alert and creative than those who don't. After 8 hours of sleep, it makes perfect sense to eat a good breakfast for a headstart. I take 2 eggs and a nutritious drink for my breakfast and that prevents my tummy from grumbling till noon.
ReplyBreakfast is my favourite meal of the day!
I don't have teens of my own yet but I would certainly have never been allowed to leave the house without eating a proper breakfast when I was a teenager.
And we never had coco pops, fruit loops or anything like that around. I sometimes wished we did (I was a child) but so I'm SO GLAD now we didn't.
Replyeat breakfast.
Replyi would not eat breakfast or lunch and come home and not eat dinner but i would bake. i didnt realize i was consuming all the dough because i was so hungry from not eating, it turned out one day that i had eaten so much dough, that when i went to make cookies from a recipe that made 4 dozen cookies, i only could make 1 and a half. that is a ton of dough and soooooooo many calories. it's way better to eat many little meals.
Usually, i like a cup of coffee better than a breakfast in the morning, then eat at lunch.
Replybut i think i should try your advice.
Its true if you skip breakfast your body thinks its starving and stores fat. so don't skip that most important meal of the day, as a matter of fact you should eat 5 or 6 small meals in a day rather than 2 or 3 big ones.
ReplyI think the fundamental aspect of this dialogue is the definition of the word, "Breakfast". The American Food Industry has defined for us what that word is suppose to mean and it is nothing healthy. Most people that do partake in the lousy american, sugary, highly processed food tend to be hungrier quicker and set off a tremendous cascade of hormonal ad neurochemical signals that start a feeding and storing frenzy within the human body.
There is quite a bit of human research that shoes that four hours without eating the metabolism shuts down by 30%. The human body is not a logical machine, it is a survival machine.
In dealing with thousands of morbidly obese patients monthly there is a central theme that I observe. It's not that they just don't eat breakfast. It's that they don't eat all day long. Then when they do eat there body wants to survive a bit longer so it stores every last calorie.
I wish losing weight was just about eating or not eating a 'Breakfast'. It is so complex and there is so much more to be learned
ReplyEating breakfast in the morning has to be one of the best things someone can do. I can just think of how much better I feel and how much more energy I have on days where I take the time to have a complete morning meal.
ReplyI eat one slice of whole wheat toast with organic whole peanut butter...with a bowl of cherrios..and a glass of florida orange juice with pulp. im 14 is that a healthy breakfast?
Reply