There’s growing evidence to suggest that when it comes to preventing obesity, more can sometimes be less…so to speak. It’s no secret that far too many kids are going to school across the US without eating any breakfast at all. Interestingly, research shows that as a means by which to battle the bulge, eating TWO breakfasts could be far more effective and beneficial than going hungry.
The results of a new study published in the journal Pediatric Obesity this week highlighted an interesting finding when it comes to kids’ morning eating habits. 600 children of middle-school age were tracked from fifth grade to seventh grade, with each being asked whether they are breakfast at home, ate breakfast at school, ate two breakfasts or ate no breakfast at all. Their intention was to see how breakfast eating habits affected obesity.
The results were surprising – those who ate two breakfasts showed no greater risk of obesity than anyone else taking part in the study. By contrast, those who didn’t want breakfast or ate breakfasts inconsistently were found to be TWICE as likely to become obese.
“It seems it’s a bigger problem to have kids skipping breakfast than to have these kids eating two breakfasts,” said study author Marlene Schwartz of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.
In terms of why those with different breakfast eating habits showed very different levels of obesity risk, the researchers did not single out any specific causes or factors. Nevertheless, they did suggest that one of the reasons could be that school breakfasts tend to be much healthier than “eating doughnuts or Denny’s Grand Slam,” Schwartz added.
Along with the nutritional value of the breakfasts themselves, it is also known that kids who skip breakfast are more likely to both overeat later in the day and make poor dietary choices – something that also rings true for adults. There is also the theory that by not jump-starting their metabolisms and digestive systems in the morning, obesity risk can increase for kids who skip breakfast.
modernreaders.com
