We’ve all known for a long time that breakfast is very important for wellness, and you will remember the old adage that it is ‘the most important meal of the day’. Now, new research has shown that family wellness also depends on what you eat for breakfast, not just on the eating of breakfast itself. Studies have shown that the wellbeing of children who eat breakfast cereal is significantly better than those who do not.
The recent two-year study highlights the fact that children who regularly eat breakfast cereal in the morning have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who do not. Especially in low-income households, these cereals are an important source of nutrition, and may help children to maintain their weight.
The study, published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, emphasises the link between breakfast cereals and healthy weight, and claims that cereal may be a key tool in helping low-income families to fight childhood obesity.
A shocking one in four children in America live in what is known as a ‘food insecure household’, where meals are not a certainty. Breakfast is a wise choice as it gets nutrients in first thing in the morning, and sets them up for the day.
Over a period of two years, researchers interviewed children about what they had for breakfast, and monitored their BMIs. It was found that 64 percent of the children had eaten breakfast when they were in fourth grade, but by the time they progressed to sixth grade, only 42 percent of them had eaten breakfast.
Researchers then looked at what they had had for breakfast, and noted that those who had eaten cereal on the majority of the days they were questioned about were found to have a lower BMI (and therefore were healthier) than those who had had no breakfast, or something other than cereal.