Breakfast: The Most Important Meal of The Day - - Skipping Breakfast Leads to Increase in Heart Diseases

Ever wondered why breakfast is touted as the most important meal of the day?

Starting the day by eating a wholesome, nutritious morning meal not only gives your body a kick-start that energizes you mentally and physically but it is also the secret to staying healthy, claims a new study.

According to researchers, skipping the first meal of the day increases the odds of obesity, large fat accumulation around the waist, higher cholesterol levels, developing diabetes, all of which heighten the risk of heart disease.

Experts theorize that people who start the day with the morning meal are less likely to be hungry during the rest of the day while breakfast skippers are more inclined to nibble on high-calorie snacks to stave off hunger.

Studies have established that people tend to accumulate more body fat when they eat fewer, larger meals than when they eat the same number of calories in smaller, more frequent meals.

Link between skipping breakfast and cardiometabolic risk assessed

Researchers from the University of Tasmania carried out a study to assess the link between skipping breakfast in childhood and adulthood and cardiometabolic risk.

The researchers enrolled 2184 Australian children aged 9 to 15 years old in 1985.

As a part of the study, the weight and height of the participants was measured and they were also questioned about what they ate before coming to school.

The team revisited them after 20 years when they were around 36 years old. At that time, their adult breakfast habits were recorded.

In addition, their waist circumference, blood levels of sugar (glucose), insulin, and fats (lipids) were also measured.

Participants also reported their levels of physical activity. In addition, factors such as age, gender, education, occupation, smoking, TV viewing, socioeconomic status as a child, and diet factors were taken into account.

Revelations of the study

It was noted that 1359 ate breakfast as children and adults, 224 skipped the morning meal as kids, 515 failed to eat breakfast as adults and 86 people abstained from the morning meal both as children and as adults.

The findings revealed that people who skipped breakfast as adults had an unhealthy lifestyle.

Those who avoided the morning meal at both ages had a larger waist circumference, higher insulin levels in the blood, elevated levels of total cholesterol as opposed to those who ate breakfast during both childhood and adulthood.

The researchers concluded that “skipping breakfast over a long period may have detrimental effects on cardiometabolic health."

The study was sponsored by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian National Heart Foundation, the Tasmanian Community Fund, Veolia Environmental Services, Sanitarium, ASICS and Target.

The study findings have been published in the 'American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.'